Lisztonian: Classical Piano Music

This is a personal arrangement of Bach's Prelude in B-flat Minor BWV 867 - The Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol 1. As I played this piece, I mentally converted it from the minor key of B-flat to the parallel major key. I did this as a demonstration of how such simple alterations in music can make such a dramatic difference on the emotions and thoughts that the music evokes. Please click here (or visit the site) to listen to this work played in the original minor key and then listen to this arrangement again - hopefully you'll enjoy both!

This is one of those preludes that is great for those times when words just cannot express the longings of the heart. To me, this prelude is like a lamentation or a mourning - something heartfelt and sincere. It is also in a fairly uncommon key - that of B flat minor. I hope that you enjoy my recording of this work.

This work is the sixth piece from Liszt's "Harmonies poetiques et religieuses" (Poetic and Religious Harmonies). This work has some very beautiful harmonies and chord progressions. The majority of this work is in the key of A-flat, which is a very loving and dreamlike key for Liszt. He throws in a few changes to the important key of E-major, which, to Liszt, was a very religious key. I especially love the way that he transforms the key of A-flat right before the Andantino section into the wonderful key of F. He uses the F-major IV, V, I cadence to lead from the B-flat minor (the II chord in A-flat, the current key) to a beautiful suspension of C major that then resolves into F major. He then returns to the dominant key with a beautiful climax and then ends this work with a common "hymn" ending of IV-I (D-flat to A-flat). It is absolutely wonderful! I hope that you enjoy my recording of this beautiful work by the Great Franz Liszt.

This is simply a compilation of the last three recordings put together to make the entire sonata. I also adjusted the volume to make it a little louder.

This is the third and final movement to Mozart's Sonata in F Major (K 300k). This has been a fun sonata to record and got me hooked on learning a few other Mozart sonatas that I will hopefully be recording and releasing in the coming months. I hope you enjoy my recording of Mozart's Sontat in F, "Allegro" (3rd Movement).

This is the 2nd movement of Mozart's Sonata in F Major and is a beautiful piece. I enjoy playing this piece during the calm, quite moments of the evening or early morning hours. This recording was completed at my home on my studio upright piano.

This is the first movement of Mozart's Sonata K 300k. It was composed during the summer of 1778. Stay tuned for the remaining two movements, as they will be released over the next several weeks. I hope you enjoy my recording of Mozart's F Major Sonata.

This Etude is comes from a set of Etudes that Liszt originally composed in his youth, but later revised to become 12 of the most technically challenging works for the piano. This is the eighth in the set. The etudes were composed in 1851 and published the following year. They were composed during the period of Liszt's life where he focused his efforts on fine-tuning his piano technique and earned his well-deserved reputation as the greatest pianist of his day and possibly the greatest pianist of all time. This etude is a fast-paced work that challenges the hands in many ways. I have enjoyed this work ever since it was first introduced to me in college and I am happy that I finally have taken the time to record it. I hope that you enjoy my recording of Liszt's transcendental etude No 8 - Arthur's Chase! This recording took place at my home and was performed on my studio upright.

This is the piece of music made famous by Bugs Bunny! One of the all-time favorite classical piano works - Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. I only recorded excerpts from this piece for two reasons. First, because I used this as an audition piece for a talent competition for which the perfomance had to be under three minutes. Second, because I haven't learned to play the rest well enough to record it! I hope you enjoy my recording of excerpts from Liszt's most famous Hungarian Rhapsody!

This is the second of two menuets found in Bach's Partita No. 1 in B-flat major (Opus 1). I've always enjoyed this brief section of the work and it includes some tricky finger work despite the deceitfully simple harmonies. Bach certainly had a way of emphasizing the subtle harmonies to invigorate the soul! Bach himself wrote the following on the title page of the first volume of the Clavierubung (which consists of the 6 partitas): Keyboard Training, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Menuets and other Galanteries, dedicated to Music Lovers for the Pleasure of their Minds

This is my first recording of a piece by Stephen Heller. Heller lived the same life span as Franz Liszt, only offset by two years (Heller was 1813-1888 and Liszt was 1811-1886). Heller, like Liszt, was best known for his piano works and was quite a talented and famous composer for the greater part of his life. However, his reputation had all but dissappeared towards the end of his life. Heller produced an enormous volume of piano music and I enjoyed recording this brief work. This recording was completed at home on my studio upright.

This is my first recording of a work by Isaac Albeniz. Albeniz was a Spanish composer born in 1860 who studied with several famous musicians, including the Great Franz Liszt. This work is from a larger Suite (Suite Espanola - Spanish Suite) which was composed in 1886. I hope you enjoy my recording of Albeniz's Granada.

This is my first recording of any kind of work of Strauss and is a famous polka. This music has been transcribed for various groups and instruments as it is a popular and fun-loving tune. The work was composed in 1858 and is a fun one to play. The recording was made at my home on my studio upright.

This is a re-recording from my first, "Ave Maria" version of this prelude. I decided to record this work again in the original form which omits measure 23 of my previous recording. This false measure found its way into many well-known publications despite the fact that it is not authentic. I discovered this several months ago after purchasing Alfred's wonderful edition of the Well Tempered Clavier (book 1). I realized that my first recording was incorrect and decided that I should eventually remake the recording. Several weeks ago I had an astute listener further convince me when he pointed out that my recording was incorrect. So I have finally buckled down and recorded this beautiful prelude in its original form, but still with my own flair.

This is my first recording of a work by Scriabin. Scriabin's music has a very unique and recognizable style to it. He was a talented pianist and lived an interesting "mystic" life with music at the center. This particular Etude was composed in 1887. The haunting melody is quite simple in that it merely ascends up the minor scale, with a short jump from the fifth to the octave with a quick descent to the sixth. This phrase then repeats throughout the work beginning on a variety of intervals and keys. As each phrase ends with a feeling of incompleteness, it provides the piece with a longing feeling - a need to return to "home" or the tonic. As the larger phrase finally makes its way back to the tonic, the journey there is through a descent back through the minor scale adding to the somber feelings that are stirred through this work. This piece has become a favorite of mine to play during times of reflection and "longing". Sometimes in life we find ourselves simply feeling an incompleteness even we cannot fully understand why. This piece is particularly reflective of that emotional state. I hope you enjoy my interpretation and recording of Scriabin's Etude in C-sharp Minor. This recording was made at my home on my studio upright piano.