Pianophilia

The 2nd Schafer volume is an very able counterpart to the 1st volume. And what lovely harmonic sequences in #8, Fantastic Vision. Alas, there are only 8 of these wonderful etudes, as they are very so well written.Very grateful to have these volumes, Alfor.

(...occasionally alfor scans are better... )

Will gladly endow you with a new wastepaper basket, dear fleubis...

Alternative scan:

Francis POULENC
(Huit) Nocturnes pour piano

Yes, dear Alfor, since you changed to the hi-res scans, I am always always delighted to replace my low-res scans with them. And I may need that wastebasket. It is a good thing I can print and bind these scores rather easily now.

However, as per Poulenc, I have original editions, being a long-time Poulenc fan, which are still serviceable, but am archiving your fresh scans in case something happens to them.

alternative scan:

Charles-Valentin ALKAN
Esquisses 48 Motifs en quatre suites. op. 63
première suite (from original COSTALLAT edition!) If Alkan was a composer of some genius, you will find it in these small pieces rather than in the big etudes.

Indeed, Alfor the Esquisses are delightful. I first became acquainted with some of them as exercises in orchestration many years ago, and some of them seem to orchestrate themselves.

Why selections of these outstanding pieces are not performed is another mystery. There is an excellent recording of them by Laurent Martin.

fleubis wrote:Indeed, Alfor the Esquisses are delightful. I first became acquainted with some of them as exercises in orchestration many years ago, and some of them seem to orchestrate themselves.

Why selections of these outstanding pieces are not performed is another mystery. There is an excellent recording of them by Laurent Martin.

And a more recent recoding by Steven OSborne: http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.as ... 7377&vw=dc

ADMIN ISSUE: Anyone else not receiving notifications to subscribed threads? I noticed I haven't had any for weeks even after visits and nothing in spam folder.

No old clefs...

One of the rarest Chopin editions:

Frederic CHOPIN
Nocturnes (Part A) edited by Stefan Askenase Intended as a complete edition, only the Nocturnes, Waltzes and Mazurkas have been published. A. was one of the most sensitive and noble Chopin players which is especially manifested by his recordings of the Polonaises, Nocturnes and Sonatas. Here we have a fully pedalled (incl. finger-pedal) and fingered edition with more than one valuable hint for interpretation.

Indeed no odd clefs!

Alfor, you usually surprise us with unknown composers, but today it's an unknown pianist/editor (unknown to me, that is).

This edition is really something special and it is a real treat to see such painstakingly clear performance indications. I knew there was something special here when I noticed the pedaling indication with a dotted line on the very first page, second line.

We all likely have numerous editions of these Nocturnes from heavy-handed 19th century editors followed in the mid-20th century with URTEXT editions at the opposite extreme. It is really valuable to have these well-known pieces presented with such a sensitive and caring hand as a basis for our own interpretations of these classics.

So now I go to seek the recordings you mentioned, only one mp3 of Askenase at hand!! Thanks, Alfor, for finding a bright light to shed on Chopin.

fleubis wrote:...So now I go to seek the recordings you mentioned, only one mp3 of Askenase at hand!! Thanks, Alfor, for finding a bright light to shed on Chopin.

I already posted Askenase's recording of Polonaises op. 40 & 53 (both are among my favourite recordings of these pieces!).

I have an extensive collection of A.'s original recordings on LP and shellac and would like to post them as high-quality mp3 files. The only reason that I did not yet do it is the fact, that no more than 10 to 15 people downloaded the 2 Polonaises. If you can give some good reasons to do it even so, I might change my mind.

Hello Alfor,

I was one of the people that did download the polonaises - but in my relative inexperience at the time, I may have downloaded them twice.
Thus, I fear - you may have to revise your figures
Having said that, I do not wish to discourage you from widening my musical horizons - I enjoyed them as I'm sure did the 8 or 13 others who downloaded those particular pieces.

I like all your offerings - even though some are way beyond me.

Regards,
tobyjj