Largo (Handel; transcription from 'Xerxes')

[laskerono1]

this is heaven - you can`t get any more of it

[GlenHoban]

:-)

I love this piece of music; it has brought me comfort during some very sad times.

[divacondenada]

Tudo bem que seja um largo, mas isso é música barroca, não romantica!!!

[nakedBison69]

I would love to know how to play this beautiful song on the piano. And how hard could it be, since it is so slow? Speed was my biggest obstacle when I used to play the piano.

[GlenHoban]

Speed's a big obstacle for me too. The transcription I'm playing is the hardest one I've seen (large chords, tenth intervals in LH), but there are easier ones. (I think there are some on the net.) Certainly the melody is simple enough by itself. Slower pieces can present a challenge for some people in terms of keeping a steady beat, I believe.

[nakedBison69]

how moved are you by this piece? because to me, it sounds like this is exactly the kind of song that they must play in Haven. Its beauty has a depth that transcends depth, if that makes any sense.

As for faster pieces, I seem to recall somebody telling me, that the way to handle fast pieces on the piano, is to play them slowly, according to one's own speed. Little by little, as time goes on, the more one plays it, the faster it will become, all on its own

[GlenHoban]

I find this a very moving song, very comforting, grand and solemn. I played it a lot in the months following my partner's death last year.

With regards to speed, I've heard that Rachmaninoff always practiced slow. It is a good idea to start slow, but for myself, I've found that after a certain point there seems to be a bit of a 'wall' one must somehow hurdle. The pieces just were NOT getting faster on their own, and I had to apply the metronome!

[nakedBison69]

well, if one has to force it, then i say, forget it. i have unfortunately had to give away my piano, but should I ever get it back, what i would like to do is make a program for myself, consisting of a total of 60 minutes of piano music written by the five greatest musical composers of all time (Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven) that is at an Adagio/Largo pace.

[GlenHoban]

I generally agree about not forcing oneself to do things, but for me it's been a matter of playing a certain piece for 25 years (Chopin's first etude), and having it still be too slow. I don't want to wait another 25 years! ;) It's not so much a matter of forcing myself...as it's...hmmm.... wait... maybe it is! :P

If you like slow music, you might like to check out a video of Myra Hess's transcription of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". It's a piece I'm very fond of and play almost every day.

[nakedBison69]

Bach's Joy of Man's Desiring is one of my all time favorite pieces of Baroque music. One version I particularly enjoy is that which is sung by a group called Celtic Woman

[kaibzolis]

you can't be serious... i hate celtic woman for what they do with masterpieces.

[nakedBison69]

you can't be serious...celtic woman are women who look and sound like the angels that they are

[kaibzolis]

haha! kunstbanause...