Remembering When...

I Once Had Fingers That Worked

I Once Had Fingers That Worked

It always has bothered me that I have no recordings of any of the performances I gave in my youth — I suppose we had a short supply of wax cylinders back then. I wasn’t too concerned about it in those days because I always thought I could record the pieces I played at a later date. Of course, back then I couldn’t anticipate having to spend eight years without access to a piano; developing shingles that would affect the dermatones in my right hand; and getting osteomyelitis from a cat bite in the same said appendage. Suffice to say, the only keyboarding I do to any effect these days is at the computer … I do well to hammer out bad accompaniment to my violin students.

But since no recordings of my piano/organ/harpsichord playing were ever made, it also means no one today will hear how badly I might actually have played. Recently I found a stack of old programs and began reminiscing about the days when my hands more or less worked. I decided to try and find recordings of some of the pieces I did back in the day, just to help remember what once was. The recordings below are done by real musicians, not me. But I dare say I once did play these works in a comparable (or at least semi-recognizable) fashion.

The pieces listed below are those I can remember actually performing in public. Following those are a few others I recall playing quite often, but I’m not certain they ever made it onto a recital program. All are listed basically in alphabetical order by composer.

Piano

(While the violin was my primary instrument since childhood, I seemed to be asked to play piano far more often … maybe that says more about my violin technique than about my keyboard skills. At any rate, here are some of the pieces that stand out from that period — most taken from various recital programs.)

Benjamin Britten - Gemini Variations

This was one of the ‘funnest’ pieces I remember performing. It is a quartet for two players, one alternating between violin & piano, the other between flute & piano. I did this on a program with Denise Adams, who played flute and piano. The Youtube recordings here are not as written. While the work was originally a ‘quartet for two players,’ this recording uses four players.

Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne in C# Minor

Aaron Copland - In Evening Air

Claude Debussy - Arabesque No. 1

The only performance I gave that ever garnered me a standing O.

Claude Debussy - Danse

Claude Debussy - Prelude from Pour le piano

Manuel de Falla - Ritual Fire Dance

Richard Faith - Sonata No. 1 for Piano (Lento)

The 3rd movement (Lento) is from 5:34-7:27 on this recording, and for some reason the performer omits the last three measures.

Enrique Granados - Danza española nr. 2

Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6

Franz Liszt - Sposalizio

Willem Pijper - Sonatina No. 1 for Piano

Erik Satie - Descriptions automatiques

Erik Satie - Heures séculaires et instantanées

Erik Satie - Véritables préludes flasques (pour un chien)

Dmitri Shostakovich - Aphorisms, op. 13:

Dmitri Shostakovich - Selections from 24 Preludes & Fugues, op. 87:

Robert Starer - Hexahedron Have never found a recording of this work.

(Below are other works that were in my piano repertoire back in the day. I know I used to play them quite often, but I cannot recall whether any were ever on an official ‘program.’)

Béla Bartók - Three Rondos

Ludwig von Beethoven - Sonata No. 9 in E Major, op. 14:

Ludiwg von Beethoven - Sonata No. 21 in C Major (“Waldstein”) - Allegro con brio

Ludwig von Beethoven - Sonate Pathétique

Enrique Granados - 12 danzas españolas:

Enrique Granados - Valses Poeticos:

Josef Haydn - Fantasia in C

Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6

Franz Liszt - Soirées de Vienne

W.A. Mozart - Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331:

W.A. Mozart - Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman’

Franz Schubert - Four Impromptus, op. 90 (D. 899):

Franz Schubert - Sonata in A Minor, op. 42 (D. 845) - Moderato

Franz Schubert - Sonata in G Major, op. 78 (D. 894)) - Molto moderato e cantabile

Franz Schubert - Sonata in C (‘Reliquie’), D. 840 - Moderato

Robert Schumann - Faschingsschwank aus Wien

Robert Schumann - Papillons:

Heitor Villa-Lobos - O Polichinelo

Organ

(I studied organ from Louis Culver one summer when I was about 14 years old. I really don’t recall a lot of what I did and rarely played the organ in public. Below are a few pieces I do remember enjoying putting my hands — and feet — to.)

Jehan Alain - Litanies

J.S. Bach - Toccata & Fugue in D Minor

Louis-Claude Daquin - 12 Noëls:

Théodore Dubois - Alleluia

Harpsichord

(Although I endeavored to develop a good harpsichord technique, I rarely got the opportunity to perform on one simply because of the scarcity of the instrument. I recall playing it on one recital in undergrad and, ironically, also the last time I ever played solo keyboard in public. I do not have programs from either event, but below are some of the pieces I’m fairly certain were done on one or the other occasion.)

François Couperin - Les Baricades mistérieuses

Henry Purcell - 8 Harpsichord Suites:

J.N.P. Royer - La Marche des Scythes

Remembering When...

Table of Contents

I Once Had Fingers That Worked

Piano

Organ

Harpsichord