Week 1: In the Salons of 19th Century Paris! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of the "Around the 19th Century Guitar World" challenge!
Pick a piece from the 19th century and feel free to share it! Tell us what you love about it, how long you've been playing it, what you're struggling with! Let us into your practice room 
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream! (<- click)
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Chopin Mazurka Op. 33.1
This is another reclamation from my past.
I really like this Mazurka but it (like the previous Sor Etude) is really difficult for me to get the interpretation how I want it. I will try to re-record this one also - but after a break.
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Jack Stewart You play Chopin so well, Jack! I like the sections where the melody is in octaves.
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Jack Stewart Well played, Jack! It sounded smooth and natural to me, and the dynamic was very well done!
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Jack Stewart you definitely have affinities with romantic music, you can't say otherwise. Getting the ultimate interpretation we want is hard since it's almost always at a distance from us and in perpetual motion. For me while I always have this ultimate musical interpretation as an abstract reference, every time I play a piece my goal is to use my «current» abilities to express this idea, then each time is different but always connected to the same source. I see it like telling a joke or a story, even if I don't deliver the same exact way each time, as long as I keep the storyline I'm able express the same idea and keep the essence.
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Eric Phillips Thanks Eric. Chopin does seem to have broken thru the fog of romanticism for me (kicking and screaming, of course). I agree that the octaves are very effective. The beginning is also very interesting. It opens with a perfect authentic cadence.
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Wai Thanks Wai.
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks Blaise. I'm afraid my reputation has been thoroughly besmirched.
I completely agree with you assessment of interpretation. I think my frustration stems from how many times I had to record these 'simple' pieces to get an 'acceptable' performance. By the time I made these recordings I was beginning to glaze over, but I wanted to have something to present this week.
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Jack Stewart Very lovely piece and your playing of it is coming along nicely. I agree with Eric, you have an affinity for Chopin.
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Jack Stewart I would have said it has been restored!! For recording I like to think about doing a session like a practice session and not bother about microphones and cameras. I start them then play as I would do, lets say between 1 to 5 times, and then take what's good in that.
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Jack Stewart Really nice Jack! Pulling out some Chopin...love it!
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Steve Pederson Thanks Steve.
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Valse Caractéristique - Dionisio Aguado
The title of week 1 challenge is "In the Salons of 19th Century Paris", does it mean we have to play French guitar music from the 19th century?
The cover of my guitar book said the music was from "the early 19th Century", and the composer of this piece was Dionisio Aguado, wiki said this guy did visit Paris and was a friend of Sor. So, I think it's ok to share this piece, right? Please forgive my ignorance if I chose the wrong piece.
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Wai Very nice. Your playing is really sounding good. Your tone is so very "dolce." My only modest suggestion would be to add a little more contract with your tone but otherwise, excellent playing.
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Wai Great, Wai! I love playing Aguado. His short studies/lessons are very pleasant, fun to play, and incorporate essential technical skills very nicely.
I think it's fine posting this here. When I asked Martin, he simply said that we can post whatever 19th century pieces we like in whatever week we like. Just for fun, I'm trying to do pieces each week only by the listed composers in the FAQ, and so I'm taking the "journey" with Hannah each week.
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Wai Well done, Wai. I know little of Aguado's music. Thanks for introducing it.
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Dale Needles Thanks, Dale. Yes, I agree with you that I should pay more attention to the contract of tones because this piece is quite repetitive, maybe next time.
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Eric Phillips Thanks, Eric. I am so glad to hear that we can post whatever 19th centuries pieces in whatever week we like because I would like to upload 1 more French guitar piece this weekend. See you in week 2.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. Frankly, I also know little about Aguado's music, this one was the first piece I played.
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Wai Great job Wai! I don't think I've ever heard an Aguado piece before, so there's a first! Thanks for introducing me!
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Steve Pederson Thanks, Steve. It's also my first time playing his music.
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Wai Well played Wai. I've played a few of Aguado's studies but I don't know this piece
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Well, better late than never. Here is my contribution to the challenge this week. Here is a nice little Etude by Napoleon Coste which I posted in an audio version during the previous Romantic Challenge a couple of months ago. For this posting, I tried to bridge last month's challenge with Phil Goldenberg where he challenged us to practice performance by making a video of a performance in one take, which I did for this video. I also wanted to ask Hannah Murphy or anyone else if they know this Etude and what Opus it is? I found it in Abel Carlevaro's library but there is no indication on the score as to its Opus.
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Dale Needles Good job, Dale. I found where it comes from. It's in the Sor-Coste Method. It's on page 49 of this document: https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/0/03/IMSLP26443-PMLP58779-Sor_and_Coste_Guitar_Method.pdf.
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Eric Phillips Thanks!
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Dale Needles Very good, Dale. Coste is starting to grow on me, at least his shorter works. I apparently can only take the romantics in short doses.
I do think the 19th C. character pieces can be wonderful.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
