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Sara's avatar

I love playing and composing waltzes because my grandparents used to play Chopin waltzes all the time and I used to dance classical ballet so it's a musical form evocative of my childhood. I like the repetitive nature of the left hand rhythm, stable but allowing for detailed change in harmony, and the way the right hand can sing and dance the melody. My grandmother was especially good at playing the fast famous ones but my favourites to play are the slower ones:

https://youtu.be/hlzF_jLZOL4?si=vlqM6oeSokQ_JBvX

https://youtu.be/euLyQCJmCfs?si=P1JnlEUZ9Ro3nuCH

Sounds like a cool project, looking forward to hearing it!

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Simeon Walker's avatar

Mmmm, that's such a lovely thing when hearing certain music is so evocative of a certain time in life, or a person too. I love these Chopin waltzes - many hours spent trying to nail all those ornament flourishes in the A flat major one especially!

I love the push and pull nature of these interpretations, drenched in rubato.

Thanks for sharing!

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Velislava Franta's avatar

Another waltz - "Before The Flowers Wither":

https://youtu.be/SxhpaDc4ulc?si=MRL7RSFtkhQFJPaJ

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Velislava Franta's avatar

A better recording of "The Cursed Castle":

https://youtu.be/hG9yPu64Hpc?si=Jj58NtiXVKMJCwuA

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Chris Dixon's avatar

Well, I don't think anyone else is going to post this one!

It's one of my favourite bands, the Barenaked Ladies,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhk-DiPqhr8

Accordion, chromatic runs and the crazy subject matter.

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Simeon Walker's avatar

Chris, this is so great! Thanks so much for sharing this, I had not heard this before. Barenaked Ladies is a great blast from the past and my teenage years, awesome. Totally agree, love those chromatic runs and the accordion is ace too. Thanks!

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Velislava Franta's avatar

I like the waltz because it can have many different moods and characters while still preserving the qualities of the dance. I dislike it because it can become easily trivialized.

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Simeon Walker's avatar

Absolutely! That's a great précis

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Velislava Franta's avatar

This is my own waltz:

https://youtu.be/22zU0GHsGzI?si=M2-3VGWmg8-khJNK

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Simeon Walker's avatar

This is super nice, Velislava, thanks for sharing this. I love that repeated note section and the urgency it introduces. There are some lovely harmonic surprises as well, great job and very nicely played too!

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