My Playlist

I’m trying to figure out what it is that makes me love a piece of music. I keep hearing things on the radio and wanting to play them and often they are by a group of composers that would fit on one hand.

It usually happens that I hear part of a piece as I’m driving somewhere, but since I didn’t hear the beginning or the end of it, I note the time and later consult the WETA playlist to find out what it was. Then I call a music store to see if they have it, sometimes asking “How difficult is it?”

Over the past few months, these radio-inspired pieces have included:

Bach’s Itialian Concerto
Vanhal’s Concerto in D for Double Bass and Piano
Chopin’s Ballade in G

I’ve long loved the Dvorak Piano Quintet, but after purchasing it realized it may well be beyond my ability.

Today I heard Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and lamented the fact that I didn’t have an orchestra to play it with! But I came home and called just to find out if there might be an arrangement that didn’t require so many instruments. And, in fact, there is one for 2 pianos, 4 hands. So now all I need is another piano and another set of hands. I’m hoping my teacher may offer her 2 pianos and her hands to make it possible to play this beautiful piece.

So back to what makes me love a piece of music. It usually has a piano part. It definitely has to be melodic. That doesn’t mean it can’t be in a minor key. It needs to have a tune I can hum when I’m not playing it. It needs to sound acceptable even at a slower tempo than indicated.

Fortunately there is an endless supply of pieces that fit all these criteria. I will never run out of good things to play, either by myself or with someone else.