Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Themed Recital Sub-Forum Ideas for future themed recitals?

How about a tribute to the great Charlie Chaplin? It is my understanding that he played an important role in helping many of our favorite composers flee Europe and take refuge in the United States. I believe he was instrumental in helping my favorite, Alexandre Tansman, escape the Nazi terror and find safety in the United States. I do not currently remember many names, but I think there is a substantial group of recognizable composers who would not have made it to the US without Chaplin's assistance.

Also, did Charlie Chaplin compose some music? I think I have heard that, but have not confirmed it.

I love Charlie Chaplin and his films. Technically, he didn't compose, he la-la-ed it to an arranger, as described in this article: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/16/musical-tramp-charlie-chaplin-film-score-composer

He's probably most famous for the tune Smile at the end of Modern Times.



Here is a video of some of the music he "composed"

Here are the current votes:

NUMBER VOTES - RECITAL TOPIC
5 - 20th+ century classical music
10 - Rare Gems Recital. (A recital of unusual, underplayed pieces.)
6 - Female composers recital
9 - Scarlatti
5 - music from French composers (Debussy, Ravel, Messiaen, etc)
7 - Piano Transcription recital
8 - Preludes
3 - Sonata (Sonatina, Variations) recital
3 - Miniature recital
2 - Classical period recital

So the top votes are for:
10- Rare Gems
9 - Scarlatti
8 - Preludes

I am going to change the order a bit, since I think most people have something called "Prelude" they have played or can learn before January.
Here is a schedule that I propose:

January - Preludes Themed Recital
February - Quarterly Recital
March -
April - Beethoven Themed Recital
May - Quarterly Recital
June -
July - Scarlatti Themed Recital
August - Quarterly Recital
September -
October - Rare Gems Themed Recital
November - Quarterly Recital
December -

That gives us 4 themed recitals, and 4 quarterlies in 2020.

The recitals would open for submissions on the 1st, and go live on the 15th.

We'll take another vote Fall of 2020 and come up with a schedule for 2021 (If we're still here!)

Thoughts?

Sam

I have a question, albeit premature... What would be the definition of 'rare gems'? Within Classical only, a certain period only, worldwide? I have a hard time getting my head around it, so just wondering.
And would that be 'piano pieces' only?

The description says "unusual, underplayed pieces" and I think we should leave it to everyone of us to decide if we have found a piece that is a rare gem, instead of resctricting it to a time or a place.

Thank you.

“Rare Gems” - The Classical music world, and pianists, are living in the past and repeating the same pieces over and over. At school, the students in recital play the same composers: Bach, Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy. For the most part... The teacher bears a lot of the blame for that. The freshmen arrive and want to play Chopin, Chopin, Chopin. If not for the rule about a piece from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern on every recital it might really be all Chopin. Since Debussy is considered “ Modern”, most students play no music less than 100 years old.

So I think of Rare Gems as the pieces that don’t get heard in recitals. And pieces by “Unsung Heroes” - composers that are almost forgotten.

Sam

Yes! And so this could incorporate some of the other recital ideas, such as Female Composers and 20th c music.

Excellent proposed schedule! Shall I admin the themed recitals, since you are in charge of the quaterlies? If you insist, I'll let you have the Beethoven one because there's no way I could even consider submitting myself

Hi, Outo -- I agree that this is an excellent proposed schedule -- I would add, though, if we're having a Preludes Themed Recital in January, get the Signup Sheet going right now -- it's only a little over two months away!

Outo, yes, if you want to do the Preludes, that would be good. I will admin the Beethoven.

Thanks,
Sam

I'll get to it later this week!

Hi, Animisha! I was the one who originally proposed this idea, and your interpretation is actually closest to what I had in mind -- briefly put: What do YOU, the participant, regard as a "rare gem", or maybe several gems, that need/s to be shared? In fact, I was considering renaming the concept "Participant's Choice" to emphasize that aspect of the Theme. With that understanding, it is not necessarily from the Classical repertoire: it could be Jazz, Folk, Pop, New Age, etc. From a more general standpoint, a "rare gem" is typically understood to be a piece short in duration, but exceptionally moving or striking for whatever reason.

Are we still voting? I would participate in a female composers recital, I’ve recently been making it a point to have a female composer on my list any time I play for people.

I added my vote here:

NUMBER VOTES - RECITAL TOPIC
5 - 20th+ century classical music
10 - Rare Gems Recital. (A recital of unusual, underplayed pieces.)
7 - Female composers recital
9 - Scarlatti
5 - music from French composers (Debussy, Ravel, Messiaen, etc)
7 - Piano Transcription recital
8 - Preludes
3 - Sonata (Sonatina, Variations) recital
3 - Miniature recital
2 - Classical period recital

It is late, sorry. We will have another vote next Fall. In the meantime you are more than welcome to contribute a piece by a female composer to the next quarterly (which opens Oct 31), the Preludes Recital, or the Rare Gems Recital.

Sam

I would vote for a Transcriptions recital. There are so many beautiful and interesting Bach transcriptions. Maybe a Bach Transcriptions recital?

I have an additional idea for a Themed Recital program - Ragtime pieces.