Performance by blackjack1777 from Recital #43 - 2016-08-15

• Performer: blackjack1777
• Location: California
• Experience: It took me 3 months to learn this piece. At the time I started learning this piece I had approximately 19 months of piano lessons. In general I spend approximately 2 hours per day of practice time on average. (Using Alfred's All in One courses with a Piano Teacher weekly).
• Composer: Chopin
• Piece: Prelude E minor Op. 28 #4
• Duration: 137
• Music Link: click to play
• Video Link:
• Music Source: This piece was memorized for the recital from Alfred's Masterworks sheet music which included Four Preludes, Op. 28, Nos. 4, 6, 7, 20 (Alfred Masterwork Edition). There is wonderful guidance on pedal and editors' remarks for various measures where recommended playing instructions and technique is suggested. It is very helpful for a beginner.
• Instrument: 2014 Wm. Knabe & Co. 48" Acadamy Series Upright Acoustic Piano (Model WMV 121)
• Recording Method: Tascam DR-05 and Audacity Software
• Info: For this recital I chose to learn Chopin's Prelude in E Minor (Op. 28 No. 4). This is my first "real" classical piece that I've ever learned! Until this point, I have only been learning using my Alfred's Method Books, Dozen A Day Technique Books, and some Henry Mancini arrangements. I also work on pieces from Alfred's Masterworks Level 1-2 but those pieces are very short and relatively within my level of ability. This piece is special to me because my teacher assigned it to me on the morning that my father passed away in car accident. So I would like to dedicate this performance and all of the long work that went into learning this piece to my father. I started working on this at the beginning of April and I completed it in early July so it took me a very solid 3 months of daily, continuous, very slow and persistent, sometimes agonizing work to get to this point. I also have to thank my teacher for sticking by me while I attempted this piece, although she was not hesitant to let me work on it, she did warn me that it was a pretty significant jump in difficulty compared to the previous pieces I had learned including the Mancini arrangements which we had considered to be my hardest pieces to that point in time, and that she would expect that I play it with all of the rubato and special phrasing that it should be played with. I think the most challenging part of this piece are the initial opening measures where I really tried to keep the left hand chords as smooth and as light and as possible. These measures really set the tone for the sadness of this piece. My teacher added a tremendous amount of various phrasing and changes in tempo at different places in the music, I would have never have known to do this and it added a lot of difficulty to learning the piece but it also made it very beautiful. I hope that you enjoy my first attempt at learning a "real" classical piece. I think that it has motivated me to attempt another Chopin piece in the future. I wish my father could have heard me play this but since he cannot I will share it with the internet and hope that it brings some joy to those who are able to hear it. Notes about this particular piece from various internet sources: Prelude in E minor is one of Chopin's 24 preludes (one in each key signature) that were commissioned by Pleyel the piano maker and publisher. The preludes were released in 1839. The entire set of preludes is dedicated to his friend Joseph Kessler who also dedicated a set of preludes to Chopin. These preludes were considered revolutionary at the time however many music commentators of the day wrote very critically of them at the time due to a perceived lack of form and brevity. In modern times they have become heralded as some of the greatest piano works of all time and it is said by some critics today that Chopin's legacy would have been secured with the preludes alone. Today, it is not uncommon for all 24 preludes to be played together at a recital. The Prelude in E Minor is a particularly sad piece, it was called "suffocation" by Hans van Bulow and it is believed that Chopin's companion George Sand named this piece "What tears [are shed] from the depths of the damp monastery?" The piece was played, at Chopin's request, at his funeral along with Mozart's Requiem.