Recorded on June 10, 2023 @ Roy Barnett Recital Hall. Learned and refined in 10 hours. This is a re-recording of "IX. Interludium B [Adagio]" from Opus Clavicembalisticum which I previous recorded at home in January 2023: https://youtu.be/3Pe0zhcafIo It's actually incredible how it's literally impossible for me to replicate some artistic elements of my first recording. I was able to use the principles I've developed the past 2 months to hone in on some details in the first recording that I've improved in this recording, but there are just some magical features of my first recording which require such a precise and unintuitive combination of tone and time manipulation. It's almost like the more I practise, the harder I make it for myself to achieve that old ideal. But, alas, this recording is still better for a variety of reasons. But, regarding the recording itself, this is probably the most beautiful recording I've ever made and I'd love for more people to hear this piece, so please share abundantly! [DISCLAIMER] If you're unfamiliar with this style of music, it is suggested that you go through the description of this previous video for the necessary background: https://youtu.be/CjZe5I2dJKc. All movements from Opus Clavicembalisticum I've recorded: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIDZcmE0XODCfwXtlHvJ3-fZSYVOf5MMR "VIIa. Preludio" from Opus Archimagicum: https://youtu.be/z_VIs6uDpv8 "VIIc. Cadenza" from Opus Archimagicum: https://youtu.be/WD3emJnTrPA All works by Sorabji I've recorded: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIDZcmE0XODBZjc2ISVcJB9--pTWaWRME At time of recording, Eric is a full-time software engineer working in Big Tech, graduated from the University of Waterloo, Computer Science major. @musicforever60_official on IG: https://www.instagram.com/musicforever60_official/ #piano #music #sorabji ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeyclgKPHBg

Phyllis Salter Piano Competition @VAM, Feb.14,2015 Beethoven sonata No.26, Op.81a 2nd and 3rd movements Rach Prelude Op.32 No.13 Eric Xi Xin Liang, First Place Winner ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Z-KWHapZo

Recorded on June 11th, 2020 at home. Learned and refined in 16 hours. This is just an enhanced re-upload for your improved listening experience! ? The original upload, shown with hands, can be found here: https://youtu.be/zo1lHShS7Ro As of yesterday (Jan 12th, 2022), I've figured out the situation with recording the new stuff at the University of Waterloo, so expect some really exhilarating and powerful playing soon! Also, lol, help me get this among the top YouTube video search results for this piece by liking, sharing, and commenting on this video haha ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phIr_ZnpP0I

Recorded on April 28th, 2023 at Roy Barnett Recital Hall. Learned and refined in 32 hours (practise) + 8 hours (annotation). The fugal analysis shown in the video is my own work. Please credit if reusing it for any purpose. "Fuga IV-X" means the Xth fugal subject from "XI. Fuga IV". Annotated version of "XII. Coda. Stretta.": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLmmRMlD7DTXIdaQaBqfUQqmZZ90avzg/view?usp=share_link Up to the date of recording, this movement of OC has been the most challenging to prepare. Not only did I have to face the unprecedented challenge of fluently playing a 6-voice 4-stave fugue with crossing voices and unwieldy hand-spans, I also had to comprehend and interpret the writing musically. For the first 12 hours (back in September 2022) when I first spent the time to devise the proper fingerings, I was mostly staring at the first 7 pages (fugue stretto) in confusion as to what I'm suppose to do about it, but nothing really came to mind and the process was painstaking because I couldn't immediately see all the intricate counterpoint (and thus I was mostly blindly reading notes), so I set it aside. It was only until I revisited this earlier this month that I decided I'd invest the time to thoroughly analyze the counterpoint, and WOW, then things clicked and started to come together. I could predict what might possibly come up. I could apply some consistency of voicing to create a sense of continuity and voice interaction. Then I could also be creative about how to shape the music. Here's my approach to the first half of the movement (fugue stretto) under the constraint that it's not that feasible to bring out or mentally contain so much simultaneous information. "Fuga IV-3" runs in the background given by a very slow moving subject line, so simply strike the chords without too much concern. The continuity is not going to be that audible anyway. As well, if the main focus were to be "Fuga IV-3", it'd make for a very plain interpretation. "Fuga IV-4" is the driving force among the evenness and unremarkableness of the other subjects, so flex that motif. "Fuga IV-2" is too complex to bring out, so just have it run in the background as filler. The spotlight is then on "Fuga IV-1". Well developed, distinguishable, and flexible, I chose to bring out this subject as much as I could. However, despite my simplifications, there were still some sections which were too complex to clearly bring out all the concurrent subjects, so I did a further simplification where I hopped back and forth with emphasis between concurrent subjects, highlighting key motifs within the subjects, otherwise there were sections which simply sounded like dissonant atonal noise. With the remainder of the movement, it all comes down to pacing and tone. I wouldn't say my pacing here is perfect (pretty good I guess), so there's still a lot to be desired from this movement (at least in my mind anyway). The tricky part is somehow making everything important (notice the accents on every chord), yet still bring out the subjects, keep building towards the final climax, provide sufficient tonal colouring to the chords, provide subtle contrast between chords, drive the music forward, and provide steps of catharsis. Though, that being said, I'd say my performance here of this movement is among the best known. John Ogdon's rendition is a complete mess. Geoffrey Madge's rendition... I think he stopped trying after Fuga IV. Lukas Huisman's rendition is quite refined, though his interpretation solely brought out "Fuga IV-3", resulting in some parts falling completely flat to the ears. As well, not enough fiery and chaotic energy. So, my efforts were directed to address these issues I found. Feel free to ask me any quandaries you might have about my playing! I made a lot of artistic choices which may not be immediately apparent. [DISCLAIMER] If you're unfamiliar with this style of music, it is suggested that you go through the description of this previous video for the necessary background: https://youtu.be/CjZe5I2dJKc. All movements from Opus Clavicembalisticum I've recorded: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIDZcmE0XODCfwXtlHvJ3-fZSYVOf5MMR All movements from Opus Archimagicum I've recorded: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIDZcmE0XODAc8_Aldj7O9rMpQmQMIm9S All works by Sorabji I've recorded: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIDZcmE0XODBZjc2ISVcJB9--pTWaWRME At time of recording, Eric is a full-time software engineer working in Big Tech, graduated from the University of Waterloo, Computer Science major. @musicforever60_official on IG: https://www.instagram.com/musicforever60_official/ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WZPpVfGShE