Week 2: Vienna in 19th !
Welcome to the Main Thread for the second week of the "Around the 19th Century Guitar World" challenge!
Vienna was a hub for all classical music in the 19th century. Home to Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, among others, the classical guitar was alive and well in the 19th century. In Vienna in the 19th century classical guitar composers were heavily influenced by orchestral composers and had relationships with them; Giuliani played cello in the premiere of Beethoven’s 7th symphony and Mertz arranged Schubert’s Songs for Piano and Voice on guitar.
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Nocturne No.2, Op.4 - J.K. Mertz
Before diving into the Italian week, I would like to share one more piece for the Vienna week. This is a beautiful piece, but I only practiced it for a few days, so I still couldn't play it very well.
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Jack Stewart I agree with you, Jack - the ‘allegro’ is a little difficult to make sense of, what with all those strange off-beat accents. But it is, I guess, what Mertz wrote. To tell the truth, I don’t find his early work entirely successful. He seems to have hit his stride with the Bardenklange collection. And those Schubert arrangements are small masterpieces!
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Wai that is sounding really nice. Deserves working a little more. It’s beautiful music. Thank you for sharing
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David Krupka Thank you, David. I didn't know there is a part II of this piece, really thank you for sharing, I will definitely look into it, and hope that I can play both parts I and II in the future. (saw "attacca" at the end of part I, which means starting part II without pause right? That's not an easy task to do though)
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I didn't know there was a part II either. It sounded interesting, the opening gave me a little bit of ragtime feel. I saw there was a word "attacca" at the end of part I, so I think we need to play both parts consecutively to bring out the contrast between them. But it's over my ability to play.
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joosje Thanks, joosje. Yes, this piece deserves more practice and I am still working on the overall sound balance and the dynamic of this piece, but this month's challenge is like a "speedrun", I hope that I can share a better version in the future.
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Wai You’re right, Wai, ‘attacca’ does imply ‘without pause’ (i.e. ‘attack!’). But the final chord of opening section lasts four full beats, so you have time to catch your breath, so to speak. I don’t think the allegro section is beyond your level, if that’s what you’re suggesting. Remember, ‘fast’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘difficult’.
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Wai Sorry for the delayed response, Wai. I was doing things with my family yesterday.
That sounded beautiful! Like everyone has been saying, you make the melody sing. This is a real crowd pleaser, so very worth memorizing and having in your repertoire.
I knew about the second part of this, but have never been able to play it. I don’t know if it’s the speed or the odd rhythm, but I just can’t seem to get it under my fingers. I think the first half (what you played) stands well on its own. I actually prefer to pair it with the first nocturne in the opus. It’s slightly more challenging than this one, but I think you could play it. Jack actually tuned me on to a version of it that is quite slow, and I love it.
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Eric Phillips Thanks, Eric. In fact, I would like to practice part 2 someday. However, playing both parts at once was too long for a solo guitar piece, maybe recording them separately and then stitching them back together will be easier.
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Giuliani - Le Jasmin Op 46 No 4
I posted this in the discussion of the week, as a little birthday tribute to Mauro Giuliani. Thought I'd post it here to.
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Eric Phillips That was beautiful, Eric. After Rosemary, now Jasmin, maybe Sunflower for the next piece?
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Wai Thanks, Wai. Actually, it’s pansy next, then maybe violet.
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Eric Phillips Nicely done, Eric. Yet another piece, or collection of pieces, by Giuliani I was unaware of.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I knew about "The Rose"
from this opus (number 9, I believe), but I'm really enjoying these other flowers in the bouquet. 
It's funny, because my wife always mocks me for not knowing the names of any flowers. I usually just say things like "the purple one" to identify a particular flower.
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Giuliani - La Pensée Op 46 No 2
As I promised Wai above, here's a pansy for Mauro.
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Eric Phillips What a lovely piece, I really like it! A monthly challenge dedicated to flowers would be a great idea!
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Wai Thanks Wai! I like the idea, but would there be enough pieces?
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During our ‘week in Paris’ I came across this little collection of pieces by Luigi Castellacci, an Italian guitarist and singer who, like his compatriots Carulli and Carcassi, had settled in the French capital. The music is less interesting than that of his better known contemporaries, but it fits your theme:
http://vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/b/bd/IMSLP625559-PMLP1004710-castellacci_op60.pdf
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David Krupka I loved it, David! Did you see the dedicatee of this opus? Mr. David!
True, these aren't as interesting as Giuliani's, but I enjoyed reading through them for fun. Here I am playing two of them: La Sensitive (?) and La Pensée (The Pansy).
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Eric Phillips Very nice, Eric! Thanks for presenting these. I did notice the dedication. As an aunt of mine used to say (referring to a last morsel at the table) ‘it’s got your name written on it’. Recalling the macabre origin of that expression, I guess I should thank you for ‘taking the bullet’! The title of the first piece you play (‘la Sensitive’) may refer to mimosa pudica, a member of the pea family whose leaves droop when touched. I’m not sure the music illustrates that, but at least it’s tuneful!
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Schubert / Mertz Stanchen Update
This is much better both in interpretation and technical performance. I may have a different perspective on interpretation over time. I feel this is good enough for me to post publicly, my 2nd public posting - I'm catching up to you, Eric.
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Jack Stewart Your playing was very smooth, Jack, and wow, you have got it all memorized, which is not an easy task! After listening to your playing, I also want to practice this piece, but I am afraid I need at least 6 months to reach the minimum performance standard.
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Jack Stewart Incredible performance, Jack! I really enjoyed listening to that. So much going on musically, and you were in control of it all. That's at a point where it can be performed live, no doubt.
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Wai Thanks Wai. This is a beautiful piece and worth the effort to learn. It has taken me several months to get to where I am now.
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Eric Phillips Thanks Eric. It is a wonderfully complex piece of music. I believe that Mertz probably worked from Liszt's transcription of the piece for piano.
As to performance - I always feel, for me, performance (and recording) are explorations of all the possible mistakes within a piece.
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Jack Stewart I know the feeling and self-talk well. When I listen to you play, however, I hear so many wonderful moments of beauty and musicality. Sure, there are some mistakes, but as the listener, they make such a smaller impression on me than they do on you when you are the performer. What stays with me as a listener is the beauty.
This is all easy for me to say to you, of course, but hard for me to say to myself when I perform (and record).
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