Yo humans of the Timpview Philharmonic. I know you all probably hate me by now but I'm hoping that me posting this piece will help you out. It's fast and we definitely won't be playing it at this tempo but I'm hoping you all will get the hang of it.
Thanks for all of your help. Honestly, I wouldn't be here as a musician today without the support of the orchestra, which consists of my family and friends. Hope you enjoy this piece, and again, I apologize if I (more like this piece) am being too hard on you.
I must admit, I still believe that the idea and institution of Prom is kinda......... dumb? But honestly, what made Prom awesome and totally worth it for me was my beautiful and perfect date, Tosha Kohler. How does one describe her? I could write about her all day, and I would still not be able to adequately describe her. Well, a song says a thousand words, and I actually have two.
Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini- 18th Variation
Final Fantasy: The number one series of games that have come to define me as the person I am. From Aerith's death to Terra's courage. From Zidane and Dagger's love to Kefka and Sephiroth's pure hate. They have all shaped me many ways.
A video game is not just defined by a great plot or great gameplay. It is defined by its music, and Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu is one of the best gaming music composers. His ability to draw out the emotions of each of characters, each setting is simply nothing short of just extraordinary. His ability to connect one theme to another is simply just natural and intuitive. I have decided to pick out some of my favorite pieces. I won't comment a whole lot, just enjoy.
Man With the Machine Gun- Final Fantasy VIII
See how great the influence of Final Fantasy is. Stockholm, Sweden. Are
you kidding me? That ain't in Japan. No, this song does not endorse mass killing and machine guns. Play the game for yourself to see what it's about :)
A few things to notice right at the beginning. The continuous 7 note theme that is constant throughout the piece, and the whirlwind of strings. This song is supposed to be energetic and uplifting. Look at the conductor in the ponytail! Man he is going all out!
Note the glorious horn solo that is answered by the winds. Awesome stuff.
Melodies of Life- Final Fantasy IX
Just a gorgeous song about true love. Gotta love this. Love the mix of orchestra and guitar.
One Winged Angel- Final Fantasy VII
I hate Sephiroth. Sephiroth can go die in a freakin' hole.
That being said, notice how powerful and dramatic the orchestra. Brass is just huge in this piece. The choir is singing in........ Latin? How cool is that? Who writes in Latin these days? This piece is just absolutely epic and awesome. Just the best background music to a boss battle ever.
To Zanarkand- Final Fantasy X
Originally written for just piano, arranged for orchestra in this version.
Absolutely gorgeous melody, which is the main theme that is heard throughout the entire game. This song represents the sadness, the pain, the sacrifices, the swirling emotions that are constant themes throughout the game. Would you sacrifice yourself for a loved one?
Terra's Theme- Final Fantasy VI
Actual song starts at about 1:44. No live version of this one.
Best theme song for a character ever. The piece is march-like, with full melody and power in the winds and brass. Flute has the main melody, with the French Horns providing the main harmony. Truly an epic piece.
Real Emotion- Final Fantasy X-2
Skip to about 1:00. No, I do not dance to this song in my bedroom. ;) Not gonna lie, but this is the only pop song that I actually listen to.
I hope that you have been enlightened and now love
these pieces.
If you have never heard of this piece before, No. 1, you live under a rock. No. 2, I will be further convinced that our society has no culture. Kids these days just don't appreciate real and beautiful music. Our culture has become obsessed with all this weird stuff like Bieber, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, etc. These guys aren't even worth a skin mite when compared to Rachmaninoff. How have we deviated so far from enlightenment? How can we not grasp beauty when it's a mouse click away on youtube? In order to save your poor souls, I will enlighten you about all three movements of this piece.
So I have picked Van Cliburn's recording of this piece. The video's in black and white but you're talking about one of the greatest pianists in the 20th century. When listening to this piece, look for the wide rang of dynamics, beautiful melody, rubato, phrasing.
Rachmaninoff wrote this concerto coming off of a severe depression so you can imagine how much passion he put into this piece. The piece opens up with a series of large chords which I interpret as the gong of a bell. These chords alternate with the pedal point at the note of low F, growing louder and stronger, and after 5 powerful chords, he enters the main theme, with strings providing the melody and piano the accompaniment. Notice how the piano, in all of those arpeggios brings out the bass note. This goes on until about 2:05, when the strings back off from the melody and the piano enters with the melody for the first time. After a brilliant display of technique and several chords, we enter into an interlude, which is the transition into the next theme.
This next theme at 2:45 is simply just gorgeous. The phrasing, the rubato, the shapes of the phrases are just absolutely exquisite. After playing this passage two times, notice how the piano trades off with a beautiful cello solo. At 3:55, we hit a variation of this melody and we continue in beauty, with the piano working in sync with the winds and strings.
This section ends when the piano makes a long run to the top. This marks the start of the deeper, darker aspects of the piece. In this section of the piece, the instruments are doing all sorts of things. The piano stages duplets against triplets, flutes with trills. At 6:00, behind the piano, the strings are trading off with the oboe in melody. It seems as if the the entire orchestra is swirling with emotion and chaos. As the section pushes forward, with trumpets blaring, strings increasing in volume, piano pounding out chords, the piece enters the climax. At 7:17, we begin the Alla Marcia. The piano, with its chords, plays with a march like theme, while the strings are playing the melody that appeared at the beginning of the piece.
After the march, the piano is alone, but this time, he is both what the piano and orchestra were at the beginning. The piano continues the melody but also provides the inner voices. Notice the incredible top voicing, shaping, and rubato. With the rest of the orchestra always beneath the piano, the phrase ends.
I still haven't forgiven the French Horn player who bombed the solo at this next part when I played this piece.
During this next section, the piano trades off the melody with the strings, with the piano filling in with inner voices.
The piano and strings continue to work in sync and then we arrive at the closing section at :55. After a passage of fluttering notes and long arpeggios that grow in speed, a chord progression that reaches the top, the piece ends with three chords: tonic, supertonic, tonic.
1:58 is the start of the second movement. After a slow C Minor scale which modulates to E Major, the piano begins a gorgeous solo with a gorgeous broken chordal progressions. Ewww, I don't really like how Cliburn pounds out the melody. Ewww....... Anyways, what's important is that he's feeling. Anyways, back to the music. The flute then introduces the main theme, followed by an extensive clarinet solo, with the piano providing broken chordal accompaniment. The flute ends the theme and now the piano takes up the theme.
After a while, the orchestra, along with the piano begins to build and build starting at around the 6:00 mark. The movement pushes forth, as some of the instruments play a part of the motif, such as the horn and clarinet. It continues to accelerate and then we hit the climax at around the 9:05 mark, where the focus is primarily on the piano. At around 9:55, the pianist has a small cadenza, which accelerates to the top, capitalized by alternating chords at the top.
After a run going down with the right hand in the piano, we ease back into the main motive. However, the violins are providing the melody this time. It becomes a bit more dramatic this time around (obviously because we are nearing the end) starting at 2:45, with the piano providing big chords (E major) as the harmony.
The orchestra begins to die away, and the piece ends with the piano alone, building suspensions and chords in the key of E major.
The third movement begins at 4:22, with an orchestral intro in the key of E major, which quickly then modulates to C minor. Hurray! The percussion can now wake up! After some awesome crash cymbals, the piano comes in with a long run up and down the keyboard. How does one describe this first part? Strong? Fast? Dramatic? Powerful? How about all of the above?
At 6:30, the piece changes gears. The violas and oboes introduce a new, rich, beautiful that is similar to that in the 1st movement's second theme, which is then repeated by the piano. The phrasings that go up and down are just simply full of spirit. After it dies, all of a sudden, we are all powerful and dramatic again. This next part really feels like it's full of tension. It really in a way feels sort of chaotic. All of this is building up to a repeat of the second theme.
At about 1:00, the piano comes in full force with the second theme, which is then quickly followed by the orchestra in full force. After the orchestra dies, the piano restates the second theme alone again, and is then joined by the orchestra, and together, they make this theme truly epic, glorious, beautiful.
The theme dies down, and after an orchestral interlude we are all dramatic again. Hey! Let's be happy! The piece modulates to the key of C major and after a build up with the piano and orchestra, we are once again in the first theme but in major.
Very quickly, however, both the piano and full orchestra revert back to the 2nd theme. If you thought this sounded good in minor, it is awesome in major. Absolutely the climax and pinnacle of this movement and this whole piece. It seems as if the entire piece has been building up for this moment. For the Honor and Glory! Don't you wish that this moment could just last forever? However, all things must come to an end and the piece ends in his trademark rhythm at the end.
I hope that you have been enlightened and now love this piece.
La Campanella is the third of the six Grand Paganini Etudes by Franz Liszt, transcribed for piano from compositions by the great violinist, Niccolo Paganini. I have picked the pianist Yundi Li because in my opinion, he has the best interpretation of this piece.
Etudes, by definition, are compositions that are designed to build technical skill for the musician playing them. La Campanella is no different, training the player's strength and endurance with its rapid note jumps, quick repeated notes, broken chord progressions, fast runs. However what separates La Campanella and a few others from your typical etudes is that it is actually a performance worthy piece. This piece isn't your ordinary Czerny and Hanon exercises. It is far more difficult and is actually built on a melodic line, with variations and phrases.
The first part of the piece is famously known as the "bell" section. Notice the right hand's massive leaps, even making a two octave jump at one point. Here Liszt introduces the main theme with the thumb of the right hand, alternating with jumps on the pinky to the pedal point on the note of E-flat. This pedal point is referred to as the "bell" that Paganini originally used in his own piece. The left hand provides a rolled chord accompaniment.
From the beginning to about 1:20, Liszt introduces the two parts of the theme that he will repeat twice more in the piece, but in variations. The beginning to :42 can be seen as the "A" theme and the "B" section, or development section goes from :42 to 1:20. This first part is characterized by the quick turns, ornaments, and note jumps, which surround and decorate the melody.
At 1:20, Liszt goes to a variation of the first theme, but this time brings out the main theme richly in the left hand with jumps in the right hand, spanning over two octaves, once again playing E-flat pedal point, bringing back the "bell" theme from the beginning.
At 1:35, things start to get interesting. Already we have seen the technique and art of jumping notes and quick ornaments. We now see the art of lightning fast repeated notes played in the melody and form from the "A" section, which carries on to the next section, a variation of the "B" section. Liszt then expands this section with a series of long runs running up and down the keyboard, increasing in volume and speed until it hits the climax, a powerful, two handed trill at the top.
The trill begins to cede, and once again, Liszt returns to the main melody from the "A" section in the left hand while decorating it with trills and broken chord progressions in the right hand. After a quick transition, at 3:00, the right hand keeps its technique of broken chord progression, maintaining the melody, while the left hand brings out the rich basses. This part of the piece is identical in form to the part when the repeated notes first appear.
Rather than continuing the broken chord progressions in this next variation of the "B" section, both right and left hands make difficult octave and chordal jumps in contrary motion. From here on out until the end, the piece is characterized by powerful octaves that continue to pound out the main themes, with a gradual acceleration. After a series of powerful, alternating octaves, we have once again returned to the main theme, (3:57) this time in the form of octaves in the right hand, with the left hand pounding out the basses. With increasing power, strength and speed, we arrive out the double octaves in contrary motion, the transition into the Coda. Here at the Coda, both hands make massive octave/chordal jumps and in a flourish of speed and power, the piece ends with a series powerful chords, the last one in A-flat minor.
I hope that you have been enlightened and now love
this piece.
Chopin's Polonaise in F-sharp minor. Often overlooked by his other two grand polonaises, (A-flat Major "Heroic", and A Major "Millitary") in my opinion, his Polonaise in F-sharp minor is far grander because of its power and finesse. The dynamic contrast is extremely sharp, yet the piece never loses its phrasing or melodic line. Not only that, Horowitz plays with the two hands of God, truly bringing beauty and power into the piece.
The piece begins with a two-three line introduction, something that is very common in Chopin's solo works for piano. The introduction first introduces two simple phrases in which Chopin then builds up to the "A" section by first changing the rhythm, then switching to massive double octaves, increasing in volume with a massive crescendo, finally arriving at the "A" section of the piece con fuoco.
The first that is striking throughout the "A" section is the massive bass line. The right hand is that of typical Chopin: Melodic lines decorated in all sorts ornaments. The left hand, however prominently displays massive chordal jumps that truly gives power to this piece, something that we don't often see in Chopin. It seems as if Liszt and Chopin wrote this piece together, with Chopin adding the beautiful melodic line, Liszt the finesse. Here in this section, the right hand and left hand trade off in melody, in different octaves. The passage is then repeated a few times, each differing slightly in phrasing.
At around 2:55, we arrive at the "A'" section. Here he flairs fleeting little ornaments, always returning to the pedal point on the note A. At 3:20, Chopin adds harmony to the pedal point, playing a low F with the left hand, which then progresses to other notes. After repeating the section he then concludes the section, transitioning into the "B" section.
Again, the form of this piece is typical of that of most of Chopin's pieces. After opening with his powerful "A" section, he will usually have a "B" section that is usually slow, very melodious, and and will often conclude the piece with the "A" section. In this piece, Chopin uses this form, displaying a gorgeous theme in the "B" section, switching to a major key. Here in this section, the main theme is repeated over and over again, in variations. Bask in the beauty of Chopin!
The transition from the "B" section to the "A" section at 7:00 gets interesting. In the right hand, the melody from the "B" section is played while the left hand plays the theme from the intro. In a flourish of powerful runs and quick double octaves, we are back at the "A" section.
Chopin has returned to the "A" section and must now end the piece. Interestingly enough, he doesn't throw in a dynamic coda to end it. Instead, after a powerful chromatic run, Chopin settles back into the main theme quietly, striking the tonic powerfully at the end.
I hope that you have been enlightened and now love this piece.
