Piano

I love the piano. I love playing it, and I love listening to it even more. It always pains me that I cannot play a lot of the pieces that I want to because they're simply out of my league. I don't think I have much talent, so it's going to require many, many years of hard work to have a shot at some of these pieces.

Anyway, after seven years with nothing to show, I've finally decided to give up on Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu" (Op 66 I think) for now. It's simply too hard for me with my current [lack of] skills. The chances of me mastering this piece is just as good as Bush (junior) being able to name the continents of the planet.

For now, I will entertain myself with relearning some of the last pieces I played before I stopped taking lessons a decade ago, along with trying to pick up a few pieces that are somewhat manageable.

Pieces I'm currently working on:

• Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C# minor (a very heavy piece... probably the only Rach piece I can manage in the next decade)
• Chopin - Nocturne #1 (my current favorite nocturne)
• Chopin - Nocturne #14 (something I used to play)
• Mendelssohn - Songs Without Words #20 (something I used to play)
• "Eyes on Me" from Final Fantasy VIII Piano Collections (something I mess with from time to time, but never learned the entire piece)
• "Tifa's Theme" from Final Fantasy VII Piano Collections
• "Decisive Battle" from Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
• "Tina's Theme" from Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
• "Celes' Theme" from Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
• Beethoven - Piano Sonata #8 ("Pathetique"), 2nd movement (I really liked how Gary Oldman "played" this as Beethoven in the movie "Immortal Beloved")

Maybes:

• Chopin - Nocturne #2 (a delicate/cute piece... they even used it in an M&M commercial)
• Chopin - Nocturne #20a (I fell in love with this after hearing it in the "Pianist")
• Mendelssohn - Songs Without Words #30 (when cartoons want to depict "spring", they always use this piece)
• Chopin - Waltz #10
• Chopin - Etude Op 10, No 3 (this is probably the slowest sounding of his 24 etudes.. so maybe I have a shot at this)

When I'm really, really high:

• Chopin - Etude Op 10, No 12
• Chopin - Etude Op 25, No 11
• Chopin - Etude Op 25, No 12
• Any one of Chopin's Polonaises
• Lizst - La Campanella
• Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini (never thought I'd use this phrase for classical music, but the 18th variation is "da bomb")

Ok, now I'm just dreaming. I see how my list is heavily biased towards Romantic-era music, and especially Chopin. I guess it's because his music is simply beautiful, without being overly flamboyant like some of his counterparts during the 19th century. The music from the other eras (Classical, Baroque) require that I be in the mood for them. As for the comtemporary/avant-garde classical music, I prefer them when I'm out cold, or when I'm no longer breathing.