Week 3: My heart leaps up! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the third week of "The Romantic Era" challenge!
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream! (<- click)
Favorite romantic composer?
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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José Ferrer – Minué Op 56
I am continuing to work on Mertz' An Malvina, but I thought today I'd submit something different. Ferrer has quite a few very nice miniatures, and this is one of them.
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Eric Phillips That was beautiful, Eric. The flow and phrasing were excellent, I always love listening to this kind of happy little piece on the guitar.
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Wai Thanks, Wai. Ferrer has so many pieces like this, and most are not too difficult.
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Eric Phillips Wonderful performance , Eric. I am vaguely familiar with Ferrer but I had never heard this one. It is a very nice piece. I personally feel the Romantics excelled in character miniature pieces (probably because they are over sooner
). I actually have quite collection of romantic pieces that I play or want to learn - surprise! -
Eric Phillips I work on two tangos by Ferrer, but its hard for me- far from recording, but as always, you have the composer in your repertoire that I love so much;-) and you do it really well!
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Stefanie Mosburger-Dalz I'm discovering a lot of pieces by Ferrer that I like. I'm surprised we hear him so infrequently. Someday, maybe when I retire, I'll be able to play all the music I want to play!
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Eric Phillips Thank you, Eric! I didn't know Ferrer, thank you for presenting him to me! Beautiful piece and you played so nice!
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Moyses Lopes Thanks, Moyses.
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Eric Phillips yes, thats the hope...these are my hopes...but still 9 years and every joint inflamed sometimes...I bought the books of Shearer after the webinar and work on it dayly to not go the way of my father- guitarrist and guitar teacher -who is not able to play anymore-because the fingers wont move by purpose. So, there is no use waiting for better times. Just playing as it it possible;-)
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So Deep Is The Night (Theme) - Frederic Chopin (first draft)
This time I would like to share one of my favorite songs, So Deep Is The Night.
It was a song from the 40s, but the whole tune was based on Chopin's "Etude Opus 10 No. 3 in E Major", so I think it is still marginally qualified to be counted as music from the Romantic period (I hope...).
Since there is no classical guitar version that I know of, this time I had to arrange it myself. Spent the first-week arranging, the second week for practice, and now, here is the first draft of the arrangement. I am working on a fuller version which is over 4mins, but I am afraid I won't be able to make it into a recording before the end of this challenge. Hope this shorter version is still acceptable.
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Wai That is excellent, Wai! I'm really blown away. They say a transcription is good when it seems like it was written for the instrument. By the look of your playing, this looks like it was written for the guitar.
I especially loved the section when you went up the neck and the music was intensifying, around 1:06-1:22. Bravo!
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Eric Phillips Thank you, Eric. I am working on a longer version, and hope that I will be able to share it before the end of this Challenge. (the second part is really hard...
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Wai That was lovely! I’m working on the piano version, which is hard enough even with 10 available fingers. I think it would be unplayable on the guitar beyond the first 20 measures. But I think the song is based just on that first theme. Awesome job arranging!
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Wai Nice and congrats on the arrangement. It is not easy to make a good arrangement and you have done very well. Very beautiful!
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Marilyn Blodget Thank you, Marilyn. I am listening to Lesley Garrett's version (which is my favorite vocal version), it covered the first 37 bars of the piano version. I am now working on it, wish me luck.
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Wai That is beautiful, Wai. Excellent job in playing and arranging. I recognized the music but could not place it. I YouTubed the Chopin etude to hear its original source. The etude is very nice as well. Did you reference Chopin at all or just refer to the song?
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I was thinking of Lesley Garrett's version when I start arranging this piece. That version covered the first 37bars of the original but after bar 20, the music became so much harder to transcribe and arrange, so I have to check the piano score for bars 21-37. I have finished the arrangement, and now I am practicing it.
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Dale Needles Thank you, Dale. Frankly, the music is too difficult for me to handle, but I really like the vocal version of it, so I decided to share it with the community this month.
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Wai sooo beautiful
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Stefanie Mosburger-Dalz Thank you
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Wai You are a master arranger! Like in Merry Go Round of Life, from Howl's Moving Castle that you have posted in the Composer's Corner, you play like the piece was written to guitar! You worked very fast, just one week to the arrangement... Great job, man, thank you so much, I had a nice time listening to you!
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Moyses Lopes Thank you, Moyses! The first part of the arrangement was comparatively easy and I simplified a lot of things, that's why I could finish it within a week. The second part was very difficult, hope it still sounds good on guitars.
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wow¡¡¡¡ Beautifull and very well arranged the Chopin piece.....could you share your transcription???
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JUAN ALONSO Thank you, Juan, but I am still working on the arrangement. I hope that I will be able to share it before the end of the challenge.
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Mertz - Op 13 An Malvina (May 17)
I am continuing to work on this one. It is well-memorized by now, but I'm not sure my playing of it is improving. I can't seem to get through playing it without making many mistakes. On this one, I messed up the very ending (again) which is SO frustrating.
