Recorded on April 12th, 2024. Learned and refined in approximately 5.5 hours. What an incredible piece, huh? It's honestly pure dopamine from start to finish as long as it's played with passion, heart, and intelligence and not like an uninspired sequence of disconnected events. The emotions induced sometimes feel more vibrant, enticing, and intense than any form of love in real life, whether it be romantic, spiritual, platonic, etc.; in fact, from the context of the piece as cited by Medtner, it is, in essence, a manifestation of the purest emotions of the heart. Since I've been watching a lot of Studio Ghibli movies lately (and many of them are my favourite movies of all time), this music complements very naturally, albeit slightly more mature. This sonata was actually more challenging than I had expected, significantly more than Sonata-Idyll, almost rivalling Sonata Minacciosa which I had also recorded a while ago among some others. Just in 8 minutes, so much information is conveyed: contrapuntally, visually, and emotionally. It's a masterpiece that deserves to be noted as one of Medtner's greatest works. But do keep it hidden, because it's very easy to screw up a performance of this; it's incredibly precise, we wouldn't want mainstream people to try it and ruin such a pure thing. In terms of next steps, I have potentially one more Medtner sonata in mind to record, but Sonata Reminiscenza, Sonata Tragica, and Sonata Op.30 are out of the question; I find them unremarkable and convoluted (in other words, lame, but not bad). And then there's also the large-scale piece by Sorabji I've been working on. [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 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 and AI, graduated from the University of Waterloo, Computer Science major. @musicforever60_official on IG: https://www.instagram.com/musicforever60_official/ #piano #music #medtner ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsiV5-X3Uz0

Regardless of what my motivation for making this video is, enjoy! It IS the best moments out of everything I've played these 2.5 years. I'm considering learning "Variation XXVII: Garden of Iram" from Symphonic Variations next, though it's not a promise at the moment. The recordings below have video of me playing accompanied with them. [0:00] Title 2020: [0:04] - Leo Ornstein: Piano Sonata No.4, 1st Mov. (https://youtu.be/d7DTPcI8LhM?t=49) [0:52] - Nikolai Kapustin: Piano Sonata No.2, 1st Mov. (https://youtu.be/o0HBcRH8AgQ?t=306) [1:32] - Nikolai Medtner: Sonata-Ballade, 3rd Mov. (https://youtu.be/sjgiez5SCgQ?t=477) [2:29] - Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No.2, 4th Mov. ("Thoreau") (https://youtu.be/EvCjxA_p0ME?t=372) [3:28] - Nikolai Kapustin: Piano Sonata No.8 (https://youtu.be/763JCLVF56o?t=745) [4:27] - Elliott Carter: Piano Sonata (https://youtu.be/phIr_ZnpP0I?t=410) [5:22] - Alexander Scriabin: Piano Sonata No.8 (https://youtu.be/D7KdMNFqixs?t=353) [6:14] - Alexis Weissenberg: Sonata in a State of Jazz, 4th Mov. (https://youtu.be/RhJn9SMfLYw?t=210) 2021: [7:11] - Nikolai Roslavets: Piano Sonata No.1 (https://youtu.be/jGxa2DPXlV4?t=267) [8:07] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: In the Hothouse (https://youtu.be/zn36c98wLNM?t=151) [9:02] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Le Jardin Parfumé, Excerpt 1 (https://youtu.be/8vE2d28yjI4?t=237) [10:00] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Le Jardin Parfumé, Excerpt 2 (https://youtu.be/8vE2d28yjI4?t=884) [11:11] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Djâmî (https://youtu.be/TvFlP-e7E_M?t=747) [12:08] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Gulistān, Excerpt 1 (https://youtu.be/CjZe5I2dJKc?t=1373) [13:10] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Gulistān, Excerpt 2 (https://youtu.be/CjZe5I2dJKc?t=1906) 2022: [14:21] - Karol Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No.2, 1st Mov. (https://youtu.be/ctFbf7gOjpU?t=454) [15:24] - Karol Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No.2, 2nd Mov. (https://youtu.be/mmd-ZaZOvJc?t=175) [16:42] - Karol Szymanowski: Piano Sonata No.3 (https://youtu.be/mmd-ZaZOvJc?t=467) [17:36] - Samuil Feinberg: Piano Sonata No.3, Excerpt 1 (https://youtu.be/_GFXhsHJEM0?t=415) [18:22] - Samuil Feinberg: Piano Sonata No.3, Excerpt 2 (https://youtu.be/_GFXhsHJEM0?t=774) [19:14] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: "Preludio-Corale" from Toccata Seconda (https://youtu.be/wehFA0Zp_n8?t=841) [20:16] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: "II. Preludio-Corale" from Opus Clavicembalisticum, Excerpt 1 (https://youtu.be/3ocG6j2585E?t=376) [21:00] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: "II. Preludio-Corale" from Opus Clavicembalisticum, Excerpt 2 (https://youtu.be/3ocG6j2585E?t=797) [21:57] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: "X. Cadenza II" from Opus Clavicembalisticum (https://youtu.be/1Ukk8aaAKpU?t=108) [23:05] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: "IV. Fantasia" from Opus Clavicembalisticum (https://youtu.be/4NlIpzHiJgw?t=257) [25:02] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Piano Sonata No.4, 2nd Mov., Excerpt 1 (https://youtu.be/L5Oz3y5-zbw?t=294) [25:53] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Piano Sonata No.4, 2nd Mov., Excerpt 2 (https://youtu.be/L5Oz3y5-zbw?t=683) [26:58] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Piano Sonata No.4, 2nd Mov., Excerpt 3 (https://youtu.be/L5Oz3y5-zbw?t=1481) [27:59] - Kaikhosru Sorabji: Piano Sonata No.4, 2nd Mov., Excerpt 4 (https://youtu.be/L5Oz3y5-zbw?t=1641) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn_0LCGPdF4

Normally, I inevitably and unintentionally alienate my audience with the complexity of music I play, but this time I'm going to do the same, but less so ?. (For my typical audience, don't worry, it'll get back to normal lol) This video is meant for a broader audience, but nevertheless an audience willing to look beyond convention in music and to see what brought me to where I am today. It was a long journey, with the most supportive piano teachers and family members. I worked hard to reach where I am, but I took a skewed path, almost always veering away from mainstream classical pieces. The past year for me has been a phenomenal experience, during which I assimilated a plethora of extraordinary pieces into my repertoire. They were no easy feat to render, but it's the music itself that deserves more attention. Thus, allow what I present to be a bit of foreshadowing, for those who haven't ventured as far. I play every excerpt in this video. However: DISCLAIMER: This video is not meant to demonstrate proficiency for all the pieces shown, but to show order and progression over time. I know some of what I'm showing is far from refined, and that is because I gave myself approximately 10 minutes to relearn each piece, or else this video would have taken forever to make. Below is the list of pieces in this video: 1. Chopin: Nocturne in C# Minor 2. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.14 3. Chopin: Etudes, Op.10, No.3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 4. Chopin: Etudes, Op.25, No.1,2,5,6,7,9,10,11,12 5. Beethoven: Rondo a capriccio, "Rage Over a Lost Penny" 6. Rachmaninoff: Morceaux-de-Fantasie, "Elegie" 7. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 (no recording available ):) 8. Prokofiev: March from "The Love for Three Oranges" 9. Chopin: Scherzo No.1 10. Ravel: Miroirs, "Alborada del gracioso" 11. Scriabin: Etudes, Op.8, No.9,11 12. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.3 13. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.4 14. Brahms: 2 Rhapsodies, Op.79, No.1 15. Scriabin: Etudes, Op.8, No.12 16. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.17, Op.31, No.2, "Tempest" 17. Liszt: Piano Concerto No.1 (no recording available ):) 18. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in D Minor, Book I 19. Schmidt: Twelve for Ten 20. Mozart: Fantasia in C Minor 21. Mozart: Piano Sonata No.14 22. Chopin: Scherzo No.4 23. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.28 24. Bach: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue 25. Chopin: Ballade No.4 26. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.1 27. Rachmaninoff: Prelude, Op.32, No.13 28. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.26 29. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.2 (INTRO) 30. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.7 31. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F Minor, Book I 32. Debussy: Etudes No.9, Livre II, CD 143 33. Chopin: Nocturne, Op.62, No.2 34. Scriabin: Etude, Op.42, No.5 35. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.29, Op.106, "Hammerklavier" 36. Chopin: Piano Sonata No.3 37. Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, "Scarbo" 38. Balakirev: Islamey 39. Rachmaninoff: Prelude, Op.23, No.7 40. Liszt: Years of Pilgrimage, Year I, VI: Obermann's Valley 41. Scriabin: Piano Sonata No.7 42. Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata No.2, Op.36 43. Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 44. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.6 45. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.8 46. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.9 47. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.5 48. Medtner: Sonata-Ballade, Op.27 49. Medtner: Sonata Romantica 50. Ornstein: Piano Sonata No.4 51. Kapustin: Piano Sonata No.2 52. Feinberg: Piano Sonata No.3 53. Bach-Feinberg: Largo from Organ Triosante 54. Kapustin: Piano Sonata No.1 55. Feinberg: Piano Sonata No.8 56. Carter: Piano Sonata No.1 57. Ives: Piano Sonata No.1 58. Ives: Piano Sonata No.2 59. Kapustin: Piano Sonata No.9 60. Barber: Piano Concerto, 2nd Mov. 61. Kapustin: Piano Sonata No.8 62. Weissenberg: Sonata in a State of Jazz, 4th Mov. 63. Roslavets: Piano Sonata No.2 64. Scriabin: Piano Sonata No.8 65. Sorabji: In the Hothouse 66. Roslavets: Piano Sonata No.1 67. Sorabji: Le Jardin Parfumé 68: Sorabji: Djâmî Though I do learn new pieces and upload music I play quickly, this video took a while (within 3 days), and I hope you can appreciate my sentiment on promoting music, normally performing to a very high degree of refinement, and not expecting any return from my playing. #piano #music #10years #solo #expressive #homerecording #difficult #classical #postromantic #experience #explanation ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHZq8RZ_KGo

Recorded on March 30th, 2022 at Conrad Grebel University College Chapel (part of the University of Waterloo). Learned and refined in approximately 11 hours. Use headphones. IMPROVED AUDIO: https://youtu.be/1Ukk8aaAKpU If this were part of that meme about what gives people feelings of power, this would be on the final panel haha. This was actually one of the most difficult sub 3-minute solo piano segments I've ever recorded. But, I am just unbelievably ecstatic that I got through this after about 7 recording attempts, otherwise I felt like I was stressing the joints in my fingers and forearms too much and I was going to injure myself. I was massaging my arms to relax them between attempts at around attempt 5. I think this improves upon the technical accuracy (among many other things) of any recording I've heard on YouTube of this movement. From what I can tell from recordings by Powell, Ogdon, and Madge, the accuracy I can attribute is to their recordings at most 75% (i.e. at least 1 out of 4 notes is incorrect), but I believe my playing here is around 97.5% accurate (i.e. approximately 1 out of 40 notes is incorrect). To play this with better technical accuracy than existing recordings while maintaining the same speed, I had to formulate new strategies for reading the sheet music. Higher degrees of abstraction than mentioned in this video of mine (https://youtu.be/ojlSCDF8wiE) were needed, otherwise it wasn't feasible for me to read the music quickly enough to translate to my hands with regards to positioning on the keyboard. Again, I say probably for the 50th time, if you're among the many who may be very confused by this music, then that's normal and you're normal lol. To be less of a standard normal person, read the description of this video (https://youtu.be/CjZe5I2dJKc) where I explain how I got to the point of playing OC. You'll regret reading it and you'll regret not reading it, so why not just read it. Anyway, enjoy another original rendition of a movement from Opus Clavicembalisticum! Other OC recordings I have: - "II. Preludio-Corale": https://youtu.be/XlLEf8btJyc - "IV. Fantasia": https://youtu.be/4NlIpzHiJgw At time of recording, Eric is a 4th year Computer Science student at the University of Waterloo soon to graduate. #sorabji #piano #music ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSK4NZPnNaY