Chopin’s Revolutionary Study Lesson

An etude, the French word for “study”, is a piece written in order to showcase and develop technical skills, but during the Romantic period of Classical music such pieces became works of art in themselves.

One of the most famous practitioners is Chopin, and one of the most famous of his works is the Revolutionary Study by Chopin. This piece, also known as tude Op. 10, No. 12, was written on the occasion of Poland’s failed revolution against Russia, and seems to express both the wild anticipation of freedom felt by the Polish people as well as their ultimate disillusionment. The piece is technically complex, too, and include a number of difficult techniques, such as maintained semiquavers and challenging cross-rhythms. When I was learning to play it, I had to practice for hours just to get all my fingers to agree with each other, but after a couple of weeks I had it down pat, right in time for my recital.

A Night at a Fancy Restaurant

The other night my husband and I went to a very elegant restaurant for dinner. It was not a special occasion or anything, but we just wanted to go out and have a nice dinner and get dressed up. It was very romantic and my husband and I had a wonderful time. While we were at the restaurant they even played the Mozart Turkish March.

That is one of my all-time favorite songs and I was so happy when I heard it at the restaurant. I think that I love that restaurant now just because they play that song. My husband and I loved the food at the restaurant as well. He ordered a fillet Mignon and I ordered fish. I love eating seafood when we go out to nice restaurants. We shared a bottle of champagne and even the had a wonderful dessert. Hopefully we can go to the restaurant again in the future.

From Rachmaninoff to Your Home

The Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no 2 is one of the best known works of this great Russian composer. It was composed in late 1900 and early 1901, and first performed as a complete piece for piano and orchestra in November of 1901.

Though you may not have a full orchestra in your home, you can still experience the thrill of performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto no 2 in the privacy of your own home. Sheet music for the piano parts of this towering work is readily available. Take up the challenge of re-creating this three movement work, from its bell-like tolling beginning to the fast coda at the end – the foundation for many recognizable modern works, as well as a favorite piece for movie soundtracks.

You can practice on your own, then amaze your friends when you deliver a polished performance on your home piano. Pick up this sheet music and start playing.

Wish I Could Have Heard Mozart

I think my favorite song to play on the piano is Twinkle Variations by Mozart. There are thirteen sections and all of them are so beautiful.

He composed them well over 300 years ago, and they are still heard throughout the world today. I wanted to learn how to play all of the versions so I went to an online site that has sheet music. I was able to read other people’s comments as well which I thought was really neat since they were all wanting to learn how to play it as well. I have mastered about half of them so far, and the other half are works in progress. I am going to get there though, and I will consider it a major accomplishment because I really feel alive when I am playing the different versions. I just wish I could have heard Mozart play them all way back when!