#kocsis

[musicainextenso]

Béla Bartók: Romanian Christmas Carols This is one of my favorite piece based on folk music. Colinde are Christmas carols which are traditionally sang at villages during Christmas, they have both pagan and Christian origins, and are usually sang by young boys going from house to house while people give them food and small gifts. Béla Bartók, besides researching Hungarian folk music, travelled around Eastern and Southern Europe (and to North Africa and Turkey) to research folk music by other nations. He was one of the first musicologists to research Romanian folk music, and later he wrote different pieces based on this folklore. Romanian folk dances and Two Romanian dances are the most well know, but in my opinion this suite is the most beautiful. He composed this piece in 1915, and it contains twenty songs from different regions of Romania.

Zoltán Kocsis (1952-2016) was a famous pianist, and one of the best interpreters of Bartók’s piano music.

Noémi Baki-Szmaler, guest editor -  @une-barque-sur-l-ocean

[une-barque-sur-l-ocean]

Klaviertober day 31: a piece that changed your life

Oh my gosh I can't believe that today is the last day of Klaviertober :D It passed so fast! Thanks everyone for participating, especially for @sonateharder! It was really inspiring to read your posts. Maybe I'll do this again next year! ^_^

So... what about life changing pieces? Honestly, I can't really chose one. Every now and then arrives a point when only music can help. Which might sound weird, but it works for me. I'll try to chose a few pieces that helped me getting through difficult times.

1. Schubert Impromptus

I listened to these pieces a lot when I was in first year at university, and on my last piano exam I played one of these.

2. Chopin: Fantasie f minor

This is the piece that helped me getting back to practicing regularly when I almost gave up playing the piano entirely. I ended up playing it on my first international competition.

3. Brahms-Bach: Chaconne

Since January, I had a hard time concentrating on praciticing, I got hand injuries from using an electric piano. With small steps, learning a few bars a day, I could play through the whole piece. I was invited to my hometown's Bach Festival, which was unfortunately cancelled due to coronavirus. In March I still had the hope and practiced even more so the concert will be fine after the two weeks of lockdown (oh, naive me!). Well, that didn't happen. But learning this piece helped me to cope with life being difficult. I actually recorded it for an online concert :))

4. Mozart Violin sonata e minor

This is the first piece by Mozart that I really loved after listening to it.

5. Bartók piano concertos

Bartók's music helped me to be more open minded to modern music.

[secret-anomalies]

.....az élet szemét, az emberek meg még szemetebbek.

[secret-anomalies]

Szirtes szív, Szirtes lélek, a Szirtesnek drukkolok, amíg csak élek! 💗