A terrible confession and my first (and possibly last) piano recital.

[lisztisforkids]

First the terrible confession: I dont like piano music.     

 How can this be you might ask? 

 I have a terrible aversion to romantic music in general, dont ask me why, I just do. I cant stand Liszt, almost all of Chopin, hate Rachmaninoff, blow Scriabin, no-no to Alkan. But I love Baroque music, especially Bach, and Scarlatti, also am in love with Mozart and Haydn. For the last 3 years I have been playing a game with myself:Since I have a talent at the piano, I should play the piano. I have been hitting my head against a rock wall ever since instead of doing what I truly want to do: Conducting and playing Concert Organ.  I hope to buy a Harpsichord soon, I was born in the wrong time! 

  First I am going to play several Organ pieces.
  Brahms: Rhapsody in b minor
  Schumann: Fashingshwank aus wein movements 2 and 3 and maybe 4 (probaly not)
  Chopin: Etude in c minor 25.12
  Beethoven:  Sonata in B flat Major Op.22

 I am not giving up piano all together, I am just switching primary insturments....

[Mozartian]

lol

You are aware that harpsichords have to be tuned VERY frequently, right? If you're seriously going to get one, you're going to need to be able to tune it yourself.

[pianowolfi]

First the terrible confession: I dont like piano music.     

 How can this be you might ask? 

 I have a terrible aversion to romantic music in general, dont ask me why, I just do. I cant stand Liszt, almost all of Chopin, hate Rachmaninoff, blow Scriabin, no-no to Alkan.

  but it's the best you'd follow your preferences. I've had a student who was similar, he never became enthousiastic with romantic music, always only Bach, Bach and Bach again. Now he studies the harpsichord and will become an 'ancient musician'.   

[lisztisforkids]

lol

You are aware that harpsichords have to be tuned VERY frequently, right? If you're seriously going to get one, you're going to need to be able to tune it yourself.

  Ohh No! Not tuning it myself! Anything but that!   

 

[donjuan]

First the terrible confession: I dont like piano music.     

 How can this be you might ask? 

 I have a terrible aversion to romantic music in general, dont ask me why, I just do. I cant stand Liszt, almost all of Chopin, hate Rachmaninoff, blow Scriabin, no-no to Alkan. But I love Baroque music, especially Bach, and Scarlatti, also am in love with Mozart and Haydn. For the last 3 years I have been playing a game with myself:Since I have a talent at the piano, I should play the piano. I have been hitting my head against a rock wall ever since instead of doing what I truly want to do: Conducting and playing Concert Organ.  I hope to buy a Harpsichord soon, I was born in the wrong time! 

  First I am going to play several Organ pieces.
  Brahms: Rhapsody in b minor
  Schumann: Fashingshwank aus wein movements 2 and 3 and maybe 4 (probaly not)
  Chopin: Etude in c minor 25.12
  Beethoven:  Sonata in B flat Major Op.22

 I am not giving up piano all together, I am just switching primary insturments....

you hate "almost all of Chopin?" I seem to remember this post by you:

Hey,

Im 18, been playing since i was 13. Wine and Classical music junkie. Live in Arizona. Aspiring to be a musician. Love Brahms, Chopin. Got a high school G.E.D.last year ( :ogasp from readers) because high school was a waste of my time. Currently taking private lessons, looking at colleges, seeing what i like and dont like. yea.......

and you 'can't stand Liszt?'

well, here are your posts from https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,15369  :

Liszt transcriptions, and borrowings are often even better than the orginal. His creativity outwieghed almost everybody else in the composing field in middle romantic era.  Sure he ripped people off, but everybody did. Its not fair to pick on him on those grounds. Remember, he was always defending and promoting the 'music of the future'.

If you must pick on Liszt, pick on him for his showmanship. But also remember it was his showmanship that made the piano what it is today.

Liszt=God

Beware!  Do not conjure the wrath of Liszt... He commands Devils as well as Angels...

I think whatever you are going through right now is temporary, and you will soon remember how much you love the piano


hope youre feeling better soon 

[pianote]

pwn3d!

[thierry13]

HAHAHA I just knew it was impossible to not like Liszt Chopin Rachmaninoff Scriabin et al.

[rc]

If you really are more interested in harpsichord and organ then go for it.  Sometimes we walk a road only to realize midway we'd rather take another direction.

After 12 years I sold most of my guitar gear to dedicate myself to piano.  Hold no regrets.

[lisztisforkids]

you hate "almost all of Chopin?" I seem to remember this post by you:


and you 'can't stand Liszt?'

well, here are your posts from https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,15369  :
I think whatever you are going through right now is temporary, and you will soon remember how much you love the piano


hope youre feeling better soon 

 I think you are miunderstaing me. Please take note that most of those posts are months old, and are from a very, differnt time in my life. Let me also say that i am not entirely stopping piano, I am just switching emphasis on intsurments. Its true, I may have said I liked Rachmaninoff a year and a half ago, but to tell you the truth, I was lying. I have been pretending to myself that I like this stuff because I am supposed to like it. You ever heard of the phrase 'find yoursefl'? Well, to a large extent I have been finding myself. And a path toward being a concert pianist is something I never wanted to do. Ever. When I went to my last piano teacher I told him I wasnted to quite piano and become a Organist, this was almost 2 years ago, the idea of me switching is not new. Well anyway, he helped foster the idea along with friends/relaives that it would be in my best interest to be a concert pianist.

Trust me, I am now more happier than I have been in years. In practice, I may not even dampen the amount of material I learn, (if you look at my program youll notice thats all ive done with piano in a year and a half) this is more of a mental adjustment if you follow me.

 Yes, Liszt is a God, he has done more for keyboard music than posibly any other humanbeing. But that does not mean I have to like his compositions.  Same with Chopin, Rach, etc.. I reconize thier greatness but that does not mean I have to enjoy thier music.

 

[donjuan]

glad you found yourself.

godspeed

[lostinidlewonder]

You sound like one of my autistic students who will ONLY play Bach. There is no problems specialising. Still I wouldn't abandon the modern piano and go back in time with your harpischord. Keyboard technique and sound variation has long moved on since the harpsichord.

Still who are we to say you shouldn't spend the rest of your life investigating baroque on a harpsichord! You would be a very rare musician indeed. Perhaps in your concerts you could show why the harpsichord sounds better than the piano, demonstrate the same pieces on the same intruments, dunno. Don't snub the piano though! That's keyboard blasphemy eheheh. I could almost imagine leaving piano for the organ though. I have a 4 tier organ with 4 speakers as big as fridges that a church gave me. It is a monster and when I play Bach on it, it leaves the piano for dead. My neighbours get frightened that the apocalypse is near

[iumonito]

Play nothing but pre-Beethoven for ten years.  get yourself a fortepiano, resign yourself to tune it yourself (beats ain't that bad).

It would be good for you, and Post-beethoven will still be there for you when you fall in love again.

Note: harpsichord and organ, not very responsive instruments.  Figuring out how to be expressive exclusively by means of agogic, registration, and articulation (and the damn swell pedal in the organ) would not be bad for you either.

best wishes and don't hurry up to grow up.  Youth is a wonderful thing.