Music Wednesday!

My bunny! Isn't he adorable?!? His name is Figaro from Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro.

According to my Blogger stats Music Wednesday posts are not popular, so I am debating if I should change my Wednesday posts. I try not to be influenced by you only, and write only what you want, but at the same time I want you to enjoy my posts and come again! What are your thoughts on the subject? Are my stats wrong? (It's possible!)

What I've been listening to: French Baroque This album sat on the back burner for a long time, but I listened to it again when I need a good mix of choral and orchestral pieces. It's pretty relaxing :).

What I've been playing: Well, next week I get my music for the Spring Concerto Competition, and so that has me pretty excited. It's a super hard piece, but I am thankful I get to start working on it over a month before the competition this year! Last year I got my music just a month before, and I don't think I've ever learned something so fast and well before. 

What have you all been up to?

Music Wednesday

I absolutely love this shot of my violin!

Good morning! 😊 Welcome to Music Wednesday! 

What I have been listening to: Paganini Guitar and Violin duets Ahhhhh, this album!!! It has so many moods in it it's perfect listening for every day! Besides the fact that it's basically the best combination of instruments! 😉

What I have been playing: Last night was the first orchestra rehearsal of the season, so I came home with tons of music to work on. Also, the wedding music, Canon in D. It's coming along nicely with my friends. It's simple, but it's a round, so we have to make sure we're perfectly together. 

What have you been listening to? Do you listen to a lot of music? 

Don't forget to come back on Friday for Favorites for Friday!

🙂

Music Wednesday

Hello y'all! I hope your week is going fabulously! I'm feeling under the weather today, but as it's rainy and dripping outside, I think it's a good day to curl up with tea.

What I've been listening to: This time I have a few to share with you, a recent discovery and an older favorite! The newer selection is by a composer I had not heard much of util this week, when I explored his works a little bit more! I think Louis Spohr's violin concerto number 11 is a good summary of his style. He is close to Beethoven, but still has a similar feel to Mozart. 
The second selection is an oldy but a goody. Vivaldi's La Serenissima has a good range of Vivaldi's works, and I often go back to this album. It's just so comfortable to listen to. Some of those recordings have mistakes, or tempo problems I'm sure only a musician would notice, but it does distract one from the music! This album probably does have mistakes somewhere, I just haven't heard them yet! 

What I have been playing: Bach. Oh, and Bach. And some more Bach, as always! 😉 Also, since I am officially teaching my first student this fall, working on knowing how to teach. It's tricky, knowing what to say so it makes sense to a six-year-old. 

What have you been up to that's music related? 

A Junior

I love the detail in this picture so much! 

Whoops, I almost forgot to post today! You'll have to forgive me for the late post! Well, I guess you don't have to, but..... 😉

My Junior year of High School starts a week from today, and I'm hoping to be able to keep up with school and the blog, but I may go down to two posts a week, keeping Music Wednesdays and the Friday posts. I'll try to think of more of a theme for the Friday posts as well. They're mostly photography, I think. However, I feel the urge to keep going with the photography posts! 

With school starting I may have something interesting to write about, or share my papers here, or something. I'll have to see what the schedule holds! It may get quieter around here, but I hope the heart of the blog never stops beating! :) 

Thanks to my readers for a great summer! 

Music Wednesday

(A pink flower family that grows in or near water. We thought it was Persicaria, but it might not be.)

Hello friends! As you can imagine, I've been listening to a lot of music recently, being at camp and all. One of the most popular composers at camp was Leopold Mozart. The staff picked many of his trios for us to play, and one thing we all noticed was that there are very few recordings of L.M's works. His style is closer to Bach's than his son's, naturally, but in my mind that would only be more attractive to listeners. Oh I am rambling aren't I?

What I've been listening to: Viola da Gamba One of the staff members at camp brought three Viola da Gambas with him, a real treat! They were so fun to play, and if I hadn't gotten sick on Thursday, I would have performed on one in the final concert. Oh well. Another trio did perform with them though! 

What I've been playing: Still working on Canon in D, and some Bach preludes. For piano, some Bach as well. 

What have you been listening to?

Music Wednesday with a twist

I'm doing something slightly different this time, as I feel I need to change up my music posts a little bit! :)
My friend Allison (she has the loveliest blog here) recently shared this poem she made, and I really like it, and so I am sharing it with you!

Piano

a funny language

with an alphabet

of dots and lines.

its sentences are

spoken not with

the tongue, but

with the fingers;

not with the mind,

but with the soul.

playing piano is

reading a beautiful

story out loud with

your fingertips, a

story sung by the

heart of the composer

and captured forever

on a white paper page.

Thank you Allison for letting me share this! :) 

Music Wednesday

What I have been listening to: Hilary Hahn. I've been branching out this week and listening to different styles of music, and I remembered I hadn't listened to this piece in a while. It is a good combination, I think, of more modern and older styles. And anything with Hilary Hahn is acceptable in my book. :) The beginning of the second movement is really sweet. 

What I have been playing: Camp music! We're doing some patriotic stuff, which I don't care for, but we're also doing Hadyn's military march and the Jig and Finale of St Paul's Suite, both of which are extremely fun to play. We're also doing the score to the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, which I find amusing, only because it's so random. I suppose it's supposed to appeal to the children? (only I've never seen it) Also, my trio. It's annoying that I can't listen to it to know how it should sound. And I have no clue how fast it should be.... hm.

I promise, I can post more things than just music :) What would you like to see next? 

Ahem, a late music post

     I decided to switch the order of posts this week, and publish the SCA post first, so my sister could link to the pictures from her blog.
    MUSIC. . .
    What I have been listening to: Russian Baroque Vocal pieces I went looking for Russian music soon after my sister started writing a Russian retelling of Snow White. (You can read about it here.) I really like the quality of the singers' voices. They are so clear and pleasant to listen to. The instrumentation is good too.
    What I have been playing: I am in yet another wedding in September, this time as part of a quartet. This is my sixth wedding, and the quartet is getting paid. The bride chose.... Pachelbel's Canon in D. Of course! How cliche that piece has become! If you, my dear reader, ever get married, do know there is more music fitting for weddings than Canon in D. Anyway, I have been practicing it. The arrangement we are using is a basically a round between three violins, with the poor cellist playing the same eight notes over and over again. Over all I think it is fun to play, the hard part of it being to make it sound new again to the audience.
    I've also been learning the 14th and 15th two-part inventions for piano, by Bach. They are extremely fun, once you get the hang of them.

What is your favorite genre of music? Can you tell what mine is? 

Edited to ask if you like the new header image? 

Music Wednesday

(We were playing with sea glass, and made this little frog)

It's already Wednesday again, so here's a music update!
What I have been playing: I have been working on various things, one of which is the offertory for Sunday, a special music with friends, and other random pieces by Bach.
What I have been listening to: I have been enjoying this album quite a bit, as well as.... more Bach. :) Paganini's 37 guitar composititons

So that's about all! I have a busy day today --- I'm taking my written permit test!!!