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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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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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I know what you mean about the Romantics, although as you say they do grow on you.
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Dale Needles that sounds great Dale. It looks like some scattered work that come from this revised Sor method by Coste are popping out here lately.
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Eric Phillips I hope you knew this already and weren't looking through hundreds of pages of Coste music to find this!
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Dale Needles Way to go Dale! This is what they would call a "deep cut".
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Steve Pederson I had a strong suspicion that it might be in this book. Since it is in G minor, it wasn't too hard to scroll through looking for pieces with the correct key signature, as there aren't many pieces in G minor (much less Bb major).
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Eric Phillips Ah, so there is a method to finding the madness in the method book!
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Dale Needles Well played Dale
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Hello everyone. I’m not really on schedule here, still dwelling in Paris. (I liked Hannah’s introduction on Vienna a lot, so I’ll get there later, catching up). I have an excuse, I was so busy these days with my newborn granddaughter Charlie!
but I’d still like to join you guys and share some Sor pieces. Hannah mentioned then last week, the Six Airs Choisis: no variations, just a few themes from Mozarts Zauberflote. Clever arrangements by Sor. I practiced the first two. Not easy to play the full chords really legato. Work to do.
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joosje Those are beautifully played, Joosje. They are also not easy pieces. I have played thru #1 several times but never worked it up. Great job. They are wonderful pieces and you did them justice.
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joosje Very nicely done and very beautiful.
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joosje Your guitar sounded so sweet! I am listening to your mp3s in the morning, giving me a good mood to start a day, thank you~
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Jack Stewart Wai Dale Needles
thank you!
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joosje congratulations for Charlie! I was aware this work existed but never listened to it, you definitely play those very well and in style, while they seems to be not that easy. Great to see and listen to you again!
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joosje Many congratulations to you, Joosje! Is Charlie your first grandchild? My oldest child is only 17 (my wife and I married quite late), so I am probably still several years behind you in becoming a grandparent. I hope Charlie is bringing you and your family great joy!
I'm sorry for not responding earlier, but I wanted to take the time to listen carefully to your music. Such difficult pieces! I looked at the score a bit some time ago, but decided it was too difficult, so congratulations on playing such challenging music so well. The chord changes are so quick, and the texture is somewhat dense, yet it needs to sound light and legato. So difficult and you play them admirably well. The speed of the Allegretto is quite amazing. Well done!
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joosje First of all, congratulations on your new granddaughter! That's so wonderful, AND you're in Paris! What better place to be for this challenge? I really enjoyed listening to these! They're a GREAT contribution!
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Eric Phillips thanks Eric. Charlie is our third! A new gift from heaven!
thanks for your careful listening. I wish I had a Stauffer or Lacote romantic guitar, so the stretches and bars would be less stressful for my Lhand and it would all sound lighter and easier. I always find Sor’s music so inspiring and never get tired of revisiting and working to get better. And still so much to discover….. -
Blaise Laflamme Steve Pederson thank you for listening and for your kind words
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joosje Congratulations Joosje - and a beautiful performance!
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I was somehow expecting many submissions of this Sor variation. I’ll give it a try. I compared the different editions and mixed the original (?) one (from Boijes Samling) with Segovia’s more elaborate fingerings and kept his additional grace notes for the repeat.
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joosje It's so relaxing! Did you record it with just a phone or a microphone? the sound was very warm and soothing, like listening to a vinyl record.
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Wai thanks for listening. Glad you liked the sound. I recorded in Reaper with my two CM4 condenser mics (Line Audio) at 60 cm pointed towards the bridge. I don’t have the patience for editing at the moment, just following the flow of the challenge, inspired by the many beautiful submissions.
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joosje That was beautiful. Joosje. Your playing is always so elegant.
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joosje This was sublime, Joosje! Of all the variations in this piece, this one is by far my favorite, and you have played it beautifully. Your research into those two scores made for a great rendition.
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joosje Sor would be proud!
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joosje Beautiful Joosje
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
