If you were to die tomorrow...

[shasta]

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would be the very final piece that you would play before taking your hands from the keys, closing the lid, and walking away forever?

[xvimbi]

"My Way"

[shasta]

Chopin's Raindrop Prelude.  So many beautiful memories in my life associated with that piece.

[notorious058]

omg thats so sad to even comprehend lol i felt sad just thinking about it

[anda]

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would be the very final piece that you would play before taking your hands from the keys, closing the lid, and walking away forever?

if i were to die tomorrow i'd throw a big party & get drunk tonite 

[r.schaefer]

Liszt Totentanz


no just kidding

It would definately be a Beethoven sonata (atm: Waldstein; op.111 when i've learnt it).

[Ludwig Van Rachabji]

Sonata Opus. 111 by Beethoven

I've heard it referred to as "Fate" (not sure where) which is a perfect name for it. When closely examined, you can see that it symbolizes death and 'moving on'. Listen to it again, and keep this in mind, particularly in the second movement, and you will see what I mean.

[dlu]

Another One Bites the Dust

[jason2711]

chopin's g minor ballade

[Op. 1 No. 2]

What about Beethoven's Abscheid von Klavier? 

[dinosaurtales]

Oh crud.  Does it HAVE to be tomorrow?  If I had a little longer, I would do the Chopin g minor ballade.  If it HAS to be tomorrow, I would have to flub my way through it, OR NAIL Beethoven's Appassionata! 

Hm....

[donjuan]

hmm what a depressing thread..

Id play Liszt's final Hungarian Rhapsody No.19 or Valse Oubliee no 1.

but if I were really dieing (sp?) tomorrow, I would probably be too depressed to touch the piano.  I would be more busy writing letters to people and such..

[SteinwayTony]

Any Chopin Nocturne, but probably either Op. 9 No. 1 in B-flat minor, or Op. 72 No. 1 in E minor.

[abe]

ooh, good choices on the nocturnes.

I might play Chopin's berceuse. Or Beethoven op. 111 if i could.

[op.109]

This really is quite a depressing thread.

However, I would say it would be one of the following, but I wouldn't know which until the actual moment.

Rachmaninoff op. 39 #2, op. 23 #4, 6
Beethoven op. 109, 111
Debussy Prelude footprints in the snow
Ravel's Scarbo
..........

Really, there are many wonderful pieces, but I just can't imagine closing the lid on piano for eternity.  I suppose we'll all do it someday, though...

[Bob]

I would wish I had just one more week to work on the piece before I played it that last time.  Just one more week!  Maybe if I had worked harder, been more serious, etc., I could have had it ready by then....


Probably the Raindrop Prelude.  I like it and would be able to pull it out and play if decently and really get into it without much practice.


Of course.... knowing I would die the next day, I would take out a loan (to be paid off in two days ) and hire an assistant to help me track down the best possible piano to perform that piece on.  And, what the heck, I'd just sit there and keep playing until tomorrow came along, being careful to keel over onto the keys so I'd still be playing something, even in death.  And what if it ended up being a digital piano and I keeled over on the keys and hit some synth sound and that kept playing as long as those keys were still pressed down?    Yeah, and I bet there'd be someone in the audience who would sit there and wait and wait and wait and wonder when this 20th century piece was going to be over, but would be stubborn enough to sit there for a very long time, just waiting for the last simultaneity to finish....  (wonders if I should get a copyright on this idea since I've never heard of anyone playing a piece and ending it like that, even Cage.... someone must have thought of this before...) I could put up a little sign that says "I'm not finished with this piece until the sound stops."  Wouldn't it be nice not having to worry about finding a parking spot that last time too?  I'd park right out in front.  And when you're really done, you might even have a chance to ask the composer, "Was that what you had in mind?"

[brsmpianist]

The Rachmaninoff Trio piece... dont know the exact title, I think its called the Eleglie or something  ?  What a beautiful piece to express mourning

[dinosaurtales]

BOB!  Really!

[dmk]

Debussy's Prelude from Suite Bergamasque....easy but beautiful, what a nice way to die!!! 

[musicsdarkangel]

Rachmaninoff op 23 no 7 in c minor.

[earthward]

Maybe the Arietta from Grieg's lyric pieces.  Or if I wanted to go out on a more triumphant note maybe Franck's Prelude, Chorale and Fugue.

[dlu]

Another One Bites the Dust

ok...fo serious now...

I'd probably chose the adagio from Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy...

[ted]

I would spend the time improvising, possibly with the tape recorder on just in case I played something of interest to somebody before I popped off.

[lilpep4ever]

I would probably play Beethoven's Pathique

[anda]

WOW! come on, if you knew this is your last day on earth, would you spend it playing? i mean, surely there must be music in the after-life too

one question: have (any of) you been playing for more than 10 years?

[Motrax]

Mais oui. 'been playing for 13 years now... though I only count my time since February 27th, 2004 as having played "seriously" - before then I'd practice half an hour every other day, if I remembered. Now I practice roughly 4 hours a day, though everynowandthen I'll play for 6 or 8 or 10 hours (10 is the most I've ever done, and I've only done it once. It's not really an accomplishment - I find that I get too distracted after the first 8 hours, so the last stretch is basically useless).

There's too much music... but rather than playing something on the piano, I think I'd simply close the lid and listen to the third movement of Brahms' 3rd symphony.

[Bob]

This is all a little off topic, but related...

Yes, I think I would check out live performances, find the ones that most interested me, and get out there that day to listen.  Fly out to wherever I needed to.

I would also double check who had given me this information that I was going to die tomorrow.  I would also want to know and might be taking steps along that information.

On the bs side... Of course, you know this -- Tomorrow never comes!    It's always today!   Phew!  Problem solved. 

[alextryan]

What a great thread!  Can any question push you to honestly search for the piece that means the most to you? 

Chopin's posthumous nocturne, c#minor i think.  I hear the sound of a man who knows he's dying, and in his acceptance of death find himself riveted by the sensuality of the end of a physical life.  Then a fit of coughing in the middle, a breaking of the reverie, but it resolves positively... only to totter back into a melancholic funk.  The most telling passage in the piece is the very end, the resolution into a simple, beautiful major ascending arpeggio.  Kind of like saying: "Ah hell, life is pretty sweet after all."

But I'd be hard pressed to play it perfectly tomorrow.  Unless my impending doom really knocked me into place. 

[whynot]

The second Bach English Suite (A-minor), either the sarabande, which is so perfect it's devastating, or the prelude.  Although the prelude has such life in it, I might make a full recovery after playing it.

For listening, although it wasn't asked, it's being discussed:  Mahler #5 adagietto mvt or Placido Domingo singing "Amor ti vieta" (not Pavarotti, no one else, only if it's Domingo).  Or (I can't stop) (yes I can, have to practice) (this site is so addictive) ...

James Taylor "Song for you"

[chopiabin]

I would play Rach's op.32 # 10 in B minor, Chopin's Nocturne in C# minor, op.27 #1, or the op. 48 #1. And, though I can't play them , I think the Scriabin D# minor etude or the fifth sonata would also be cool ways to finish.

[chopinisque]

A sad Chopin Waltz... like op 69 no. 2.

Or the third movement of Moonlight Sonata if I'm feeling uncontent with life... I haven't tried it but if I had one continuous day of playing, I'm sure I could manage...

 

[rafant]

Hardly I would be in the mood to play piano, since there would be no motivation at all. My motivation still lies more in the pieces that I hope or plan to play some day, than in the pieces I am able to play so far.
But pushing me a little, as I am a christian, I'd choose some Chorale Preludes by J.S. Bach, those celebrating the Jesus' victory over the death and the joy for being near to join our Lord in his reign. I'd still have to search for the suitable ones.

[Ed Marlo]

I'd play Fur Elise on a childs keyboard, so at least then I could laugh myself to death as opposed to the horrible painful death that I would go through the next day.

I'd have to be rather common with my choices, 2nd and 3rd of Moonlight, Prelude in C sharp minor by rach, and finally...  Virtuoso Fantasy (variations on Bizet's Carmen) by Horowitz.

[Tash]

chopin funeral march haha

no that's a bit depressing probably more like his berceuse or nocturne op9 no1. or maybe if i felt like including a lot of wonderful school musical memories i'd do grutzmacher's albumblatt- images of my music class lying on the floor meditating whilst listening to me play it about 500 times several lessons to keep them sane!

oh i'm really sad now i think i'm gonna go get my collection of 'lie in my bed and cry' music

[johnnypiano]

Chopin's 4th Ballade.  Also, Brahms B minor Intermezzo, Op.119 No.1 - that's a good-bye piece if ever there was one.     

[rohansahai]

Depends............if that particular day i'm feeling thankful that life would end the next day , i would probably play the Rhapsodie Espagnole by Liszt and if i don't want life to end THAT PARTICULAR DAY..........i would play Rach's op. 23-4 prelude in d major !

[Radix]

Medtner's "Alla Reminiscenza."  It's a very good "ending" piece, whether you're ending a concert or your life.  I would hold the final chord until the sonority of the piano completely faded.

[Bob]

Sobering and creepy thought:

"If you were to die tomorrow..."

Who's to say you won't?

[anda]

Sobering and creepy thought:

"If you were to die tomorrow..."

Who's to say you won't?

that was good 

well, i was the first to say I WOULDN'T PLAY! but if i were to die tomorrow, i guess i'd have to say today i not only played the piano, but i did it on stage

[Bob]

Whew!  Still here.... Man, that was a creepy thought, "Who's to say you won't."

I would probably want to hear the slow movement from Mahler X.  That would probably sum up what I was feeling at the time.

It might depend on what time of day it was in relation to "tomorrow."  I'd probably skip work that day.     I don't think I'd mess with trying to perfect anything or even trying to work on something.  I'd want to enjoy the piece. 

With the all loose ends I'd be attempting to wrap up, I might not have time to do any music things.

I might just sit and listen to the wind or something like that.

If it was the last piece you'd ever play and you weren't too concerned about the piano after you were gone, you could do one of those avant garde pieces that calls for cutting piano strings or blowing up the piano. 

lol... I might also volunteer to do a free performance in a hospital in the emergency room, just playing and playing until the moment came, and then oh, yes, what good fortune you'd have to be in a hospital emergency room in a situation like that.