Nocturne in Ab, "The Murmur"

At long last, Maria Szymanowska is coming back. Here is another piece I know by her, a Nocturne in A flat. It was written for 3 hands, so I layered two recordings of myself together.


Listen to the song here
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Prelude in E

Today, I am playing a Prelude in E Major by Maria Szymanowska. It is the third in her set of 4 Preludes. Szymanowska was a Polish composer who doesn't get nearly as much attention as Chopin, but could be considered a forerunner of him. Who knows how many composers there were like her who have simply been forgotten despite their achievements?

Listen to the song here
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Waltz, op 64 #2

I've decided to continue with romantic era piano pieces, and that means it's time for Chopin. With so many admirers of his unique style, we couldn't forget about him. Even one who has heard very little classical music will have come across a Chopin nocturne or waltz at some point. "Favorite" or "most influential" composer lists can never be proven "right," but whenever one is made, he is usually in the top 5.

Somehow, I didn't know much about Chopin for my first, say, 5 years playing the piano. At that point, I had not learned any of his compositions yet. I remember having little to say when my teacher made a pun regarding a "Chopin board." Granted, I was very young during those years. This was the time when I didn't know how to pronounce Liszt and all I knew of Rachmaninoff was that he had big hands. As I noticed from my folders of sheet music, I have played a lot of Chopin since then.

Listen to the song here
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Liebestraum #1

Yes, I have already made a Liebestraum post, but I failed to mention in the title that it was the third Liebestraum. I have changed that now, but eventually, someone will be confused that I played the third piece in the series before the first one. (This was most likely because I heard it before the other two.)

If you have heard that piece, or if you saw me last month finding flour in Budapest, you also know who we are talking about today. Before someone suggests that I rename my site Tea with a Lisztian (TwL), I have a good reason to bring the famous pianist back.

I just discovered that Franz Liszt played this piece at his last-ever performance, just two weeks before the fateful day of July 31, 1886.

137 years ago. (Sometimes I don't appreciate the force of how long that is.)

Listen to the song here
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Sonata in C Major

Why are you seeing this post today? There's two reasons why. First of all, I've kept coming back to the thought that I haven't added anything here since Together Forever in.... when was it? Probably August. I didn't want any of you to think that I had permanently gotten stuck in 1987 after posting that.

Secondly, I've heard reports that one can never tell when this sonata is going to end -- it seems like it's "going on forever." Since I'm the one who learned all the different parts, I have to know in my head where the end of the song is, so I'm not really the best person to comment on that. I want to know what you think, as the listener.

Third of all, we're coming up to the day when Tea with Liya will have been open for 5 years (since November 8, 2017). In fact, I thought at first that the 5-year mark was going to be November 15th or 16th, but then I realized it was coming up on Tuesday! So it's a good thing that I'm adding this song now. It wouldn't be right for me, out of all people, to miss the 5-year mark, right?

Listen to the song here
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La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin

Here's a short little song by Claude Debussy, one of the most influential composers of his time. You may remember me talking about him on a Bill Evans song. The title refers to a girl with flaxen hair (blonde hair). But somehow, the melody reminds me of a cat walking around. I don't know why. I just got that image in my head.

This one was written in 1910, and it was known to be simpler than most of Debussy's other writing. For example, it has some more common chord patterns (though not the most obvious ones), and it doesn't change into a lot of different keys. It isn't that long, either.

Listen to the song here
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Spring Song

I've discovered that I should start writing up here. If I don't, then previews of the post (like on Google search, or on the side of my homepage) will just show the piece of HTML for the audio, instead of anything I actually said. I also hope you will forgive me for forgetting to set this post up on Sunday.

Listen to the song here
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Today's song was written by Felix Mendelssohn as part of a collection called "Songs Without Words." There were 8 different books of these that were published at different times in Mendelssohn's life. In the 1830s and '40s, when they were written, pianos were becoming more popular and larger numbers of people were learning to play them. Mendelssohn's songs became a favorite because they weren't too hard for new pianists to play. (If I ever feel like this one was too easy to play, maybe I should check out the ragtime version that I heard about while looking it up.)

Some of the volumes in the collection were dedicated to family members or to other musicians that Mendelssohn knew. However, not all of the songs got their own names like this one. Most of them were simply designated by the tempo and the key.

Mendelssohn was once approached with an offer to have lyrics written for these songs. He turned it down, saying that what he was expressing with his music was not too indefinite to put into words, but rather too definite. Perhaps he was trying to say that music can connect with a person in a way that words can't really convey.

Maybe I should rework the saying about being remembered for how you make people feel. "People might forget the lyrics of your songs, and they might forget how you play your instrument, but they will never forget how your music made them feel."

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya

Suite in G Minor

Listen to the song here
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It was July when I recorded this one. That was almost a year ago, but I'm still putting it up before all of the newer songs I've recorded. I don't want this song to be forgotten and stay on my list for years.

This song is pretty long, but that's because it has 6 different parts. Similarly to this composition by Handel, the 6 parts are all dances that were meant to be played together. They're supposed to be connected by all being in the same key (G minor), but I noticed that Handel used similar melodic lines in some of the different pieces.

The last part (which starts at 18:39) has an interesting chord pattern called a "cycle of 4ths." It's called that because it goes in a circle -- the last chord is the same as the one you start with. I've seen this pattern in some jazz standards, too, like Autumn Leaves. You can find pieces of the circle in almost any jazz standard you listen to. Some things never change in music, no matter how many years go by.

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya

Prelude and Fugue in C Sharp Minor

Listen to the song here
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Like the Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, this song has two parts that go together. (If you want to know why Bach's collection of preludes and fugues is called the Well-Tempered Clavier, you can go there.) The second part of this song (the fugue) has been called one of the most complex pieces of music Bach has ever written. Most fugues have one or two short melodies that are connected together and repeated throughout the song, but this one has 3. It also has 5 voices (melody lines playing at the same time) instead of 3 or 4. This leaves room for a lot of overlapping melodies, something which Bach took full advantage of.

I found this video of the fugue, with an analysis attached, which explained some more about the composition choices Bach made. It said that Bach tried to add some symbols of the suffering of Jesus. For example, it has sequences of descending notes in the highest voice, which were a common lament melody. This opening melody (which, of course, returns throughout) has a shape that was often used to represent a cross at the time.

There is also a lot of use of the number 5. The opening subject has 5 notes, and the whole fugue has 5 voices, which might match with the 5 wounds from the cross. If you listen to the whole song, it definitely sounds like it could be a mourning song (especially in a key like C# minor, which Bach might have even chosen on purpose).

Since it's Easter, I thought now would be a good time to post this one. It looks like I recorded it last year, but I probably left it in my folder because I was waiting for Good Friday. That means I really should have posted it on Friday, not Monday, but I'm sure you'll still listen to it.

 
Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya

Prelude and Fugue in C Minor

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a "prelude and fugue" by Johann Sebastian Bach that he wrote in the key of C minor. Even though the piece has two contrasting parts, they are both regarded as the same song. Preludes are usually shorter and serve as an introduction, while fugues have a central melody that is played in different places and times throughout the song. I hope you will enjoy this one!

Listen to the song here
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Suite in D Minor

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song by George Frideric Handel called the "Suite in D Minor." He actually wrote at least 3 pieces with this name, from what I've looked up, so perhaps we will one day run into a Sonata in A Major predicament. Sometimes, it seems that composers just don't have enough time to think of names for songs - which, in this case, might be an accurate statement. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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An improvised Fur Elise

Today, I'm playing a classical song called "Fur Elise," composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. This might even be the first song that you think of when someone mentions classical music. So, I decided to make it a bit different than the official version that's been published, by playing the main theme in different ways. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Liebestraum #3 (Love Dream)

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a song by Franz Liszt called "Liebestraum," or "Dreams of Love." It's part of a collection of three songs that he wrote, but this one is the most popular. There's a theory that Liszt wrote this song when his fellow composer Frederic Chopin passed away, in memory of him. The poem that this song was based on reminds us to take advantage of every opportunity to show love, before the people we had relationships with are gone, never to be seen again. I hope you like listening to this song!


Listen to the song here
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Moonlight Sonata

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing the famous classical song by Ludwig van Beethoven called "Moonlight Sonata." Unlike some other classical musicians, Beethoven was a composer who lived to see his work become popular. However, he didn't really understand the reason why everyone liked this song. I hope this will be a song that you like, too!


Listen to the song here
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Aria in B flat Major

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a little song by George Frideric Handel called "Aria in B flat Major." This is something for you to listen to as 2021 is coming up. Maybe 2021 will also be a year that's different from all the other ones you've seen. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Waltz in Gb

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing another song by Frederic Chopin - this one is a Waltz in Gb major. It turns out that if the instructions in Chopin's will had been followed, this song would never have existed today. Maybe there could be a good reason to not follow someone's instructions ... or is there? I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Etude in Eb Major

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a classical song composed by Frederic Chopin called "Etude #11." Chopin was one of the three well-known composers of the time period in which this song was written. These three piano players also happened to have bigger hands than mine, which makes it harder for me to play songs like this one. But why shouldn't you push yourself to the edge of whatever limits you have? I hope you like listening to this song!


Listen to the song here
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Canon in D

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a classical song by Johannes Pachelbel called "Canon in D." While this song is often played at a marriage ceremony, it's still an excellent piece of music to listen to no matter where you are in your life. One of the interesting things about music is that it can be taken out of context and still sound good. I hope you like listening to this one!


Listen to the song here
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Toccata in G Major

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a classical song by J.S. Bach called "Toccata in G Major." A toccata is defined as a piece of music that is written to demonstrate the dexterity of the performer's hands. It's usually written for the piano, so I suppose this was the perfect song for me to play. It also served as a reminder of how composers sometimes make their songs hard to play! Or perhaps these difficult lines actually help musicians develop their skills. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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Sonata in A Major (#3...)

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a classical song called Sonata in A Major. I'm pretty sure that this is the third Sonata in A Major I've posted on Tea with Liya. Same style of piece, same key... but different composers, and thus they sound completely different. I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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