Happy Halloween!

In celebration of halloween I wrote an arrangement of Bach's famous Toccata in D-Minor! I was going to record it, but ended up playing it as a guest performance for my sister's recital. So I decided to post the video instead. So here is my personal arrangement of Bach's Toccata in D-Minor - shortened significantly so that it wouldn't get too boring ;)

Oh, and the green cape was my halloween costume - I struggled last minute to find something so I just threw on my son's cape from last year's costume :) Enjoy!

John Field Nocturne in D Minor Dedicated to Joe Winther and Mike Goulding

This is my first recording by the lesser-known composer, John Field. Field was a talented pianist and composer and the world of romantic music owes a great deal to this man - he was the first to invent the "Nocturne" style of music. When one thinks of "Nocturne" the first composer one thinks of is, of course, Frederic Chopin. It was actually at a performance of Field's where Chopin was inspired by his new style of music (the Nocturne) and subsequently went on to write some of the most popular nocturnes in romantic music - all thanks to John Field.

Dedication
I am dedicating this recording to Joe Winther and Mike Goulding - two friends and colleagues in my profession. I dedicate this recording to them because I think they can relate somewhat to this fine composer. Mike and Joe are the system administrators for the public company, aVinci Media. All IT personnel across the nation can probably relate to John Field because they are all under appreciated :) These are the people who keep our modern systems, networks, and technology alive and running! Unfortunately, they typically don't get recognized until something breaks, and then the recognition is not all that positive. So, like John Field, they work day after day contributing to the fundamentals of our modern lives, yet being given much less credit and positive recognition than they deserve! So, Mike and Joe, I dedicate this recording to you as my show of appreciation to the excellent work that you perform each day!

You can download this recording here or from my free iTunes podcast. You may also use the embedded player below to listen online. I hope you enjoy my recording of John Field's Nocturne in D Minor (Hopk. 59A: 13)!

Fur Elise - Bagatelle in A Minor

A few months ago one of my cousins specifically requested that I record Beethoven's famous "Fur Elise"... so here it is!

You can read about some of the historical background on this piece here. This is definitely one of the most famous (if not THE most famous) classical piano works. Beethoven would probably be quite surprised to discover the popularity of this piece - and perhaps a bit dissappointed that it has overshadowed all of his masterpieces in popularity. Nonetheless, I agreed with my cousin that this is an important work to add to my podcast.

You can download this recording as well as all of my recordings by subscribing to my free iTunes podcast. Or, if you prefer, you can download the MP3 or WMA file directly here. Use the embedded player below to listen online.

Korean Cats

My 5-year old daughter just finished recording her first composition :) She composed it entirely on her own. I had her play it three times while recording, and then she listened to all three and decided that this was the one she liked most. She wrote it in celebration of her heritage, of which she is 1/2 Korean, and titled it "Korean Cats".

You can listen to her first composition by using the embedded media player below:

Andantino by Cesar Franck

I'm finally back! The last couple of months have been extremely long.... having a broken foot is definitely not something I would recommend (particulary the right foot) - especially if you enjoy playing the piano or driving.

Today's recording is my first work by Cesar Franck. It is a short and simple melody that hides within it Franck's love for organ music. The keyboard technique for this piece is relatively simple, yet reminiscent of an organ work.

I hope that you enjoy this recording! I know that I enjoyed finally being able to record something again. You can download a copy of this recording by visiting this page or by subscribing to my free iTunes podcast. You can also use the embedded media player below to listen online.

New Look!

I decided to abandon the old Lisztonian look and feel and switched it up a bit last night. Take a look at the new site (www.lisztonian.com) and feel free to leave me some feedback!