Category: Piano
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Green Heat
I wrote this in memory of the Buena Vista Social Club. It’s a fusion of different styles around a bit of latin jazz with a short piano solo. AI music genre analyzers think it has elements of House, Down Tempo, and Future Jazz electronic genres, always amusing for what it’s worth.
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Sky Rise
Piano and electronica. Piano song with a light touch of jazz and an electronic instrument backdrop.
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Prokofiev, Sonata No. 7, Part 3, “Precipitato”
This is an amateur performance of one of the more difficult pieces I’ve ever attempted. Prokofiev let his true feelings about Stalin spill into his three “War Sonatas,” nos. 6-8, written in 1942. The war sonatas are tumultuous, chromatic, and dissonant. The finale to no. 7, the “Precipitato,” is a relentless tocatta in septuple time.…
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Visions Captives
Piano composition for 4 hands with latin rhythm and jazz influences, chromaticism, and cluster chords. Sheet music and recordings with a count-in of the separate parts to play along with are free to download with the links below.
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Goldberg Variations 1-3 + Aria
The 30 Goldberg variations run long for most listeners, and are a large project to learn. So here’s a short version of just the first set of 3 plus the beautiful aria which is the basis for the variations.
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La Soiree dans Granade
A habanera (literally “music or dance of Havana”) by Claude Debussey written in his impressionistic style. A very beautiful and atmospheric piece.
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Prokofiev’s Diabolical Suggestions
First performed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1909, this piece earned him his place as a leftist and “bad boy of Russian music.” It is from his Four Pieces, opus. 4, no. 4. After a demonic start, it becomes sheer terror, and is now considered a modern masterpiece. Great fun to play.
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Chopin Nocture C#min
This piece is already short, so I didn’t make any changes to it. A favorite along with Cmin nocturne.
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Fantasy on Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 (a shortened version)
A favorite of Chopin’s Ballades that I once worked on, but it has some very difficult sections for the amateur pianist. I came back to this piece and created a shortened version of it that required one new transition section and a new ending. It was great fun to work on and play as I…
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Schubert Piano Sonata D 960, Bb Major, 1st movement (Molto moderato), shortened version
I shortened this from 20 minutes (plus or minus a few minutes depending on the performer) to 8 minutes. The details of shortening the piece are described after the video. In this arrangement, I play through measure 111, then jump to measure 122 (in the first ending). I play through measure 124, and then jump…