Sunderland Music Festival Piano Romantic Class Grade 9

[timjolam]

One of my favourites...I, too, played it at 12 yrs and it's always touching to hear this song even though it's played differently by each individual.

[MmRogers1988]

What excellent playing of this emotional piece.

[PeterU1949]

What a famous piece so effectively played! I find this Chopin Nocturne moves me to my core. Well-done!

[Gr33nkiwi]

I lied, you actually play this a bit faster than me at some parts, I was judging the speed by the time and the opening, oops my mistake lol.

[Gr33nkiwi]

Good job :D I'm playing this too, I play it a bit faster, I don't have the patience to play it slow lol.

[helliop]

looks like one of the entries bailed, but its good there was some actual competition, sometimes when i entered in sunderland its only against another person, which i find more difficult. really well played, one of the best interpretations i've seen. i think you really took the time to get to know the piece well.

[jwabacus]

Yup - first entrant was a no-show. It would seem that when the level exceeds grade 8, there are very few per piano class. I agree that it's better with some competition - as it was here. it's also interesting that someone else knows about Sunderland! Did you play there recently?

[AznDDRhero]

I remember learning this song after i watched the movie, The Pianist :)

[EmilieP9]

wow.. well done! (:

[Vook]

This is my favorite piano piece of all time. It just bursts with emotion, beauty, and expression at every note. It really is a piece to grieve by. You played it well.

If I could offer some suggestions, I think I you could've used more rubato. You could take more time between phrases, especially to stretch out the dynamics. Have you, by any chance, tried writing lyrics to the piece and singing it to yourself? When I did that myself, I really found a great musical significance in every note.

[jwabacus]

Thanks for your comments! I hope I've matured somewhat - musically - since I played that a year ago (I'm now 13). I'm going to relearn this and will take your suggestions to heart. It's one of my favourite pieces too. I've seen lyrics to this but thought they distracted from the piece; however, I've not tried writing my own - a huge task, I'm thinking.

[GregAnthus]

You ARE maturing musically. I've watched your videos for quite a while now and I plainly see it, although this was done quite a while ago and I find this performance just right for me.

[Twina223]

i froze when i heard this!!! my sister's 11 and she's only started grade 9!! good job i loved it, chopin's really hard to play

[ghillier1]

Great performance; I absolutely love it. Thank you for giving us this.

[Hockeyman63]

The piece was truly amazing. Are you a pro? This energy you put in the piece. WOW! Amazing Job

[TimK999]

This piece simply dazzles me. Your performance is both professional and first rate!

[calebhoward]

Wow! Josh - I'm not even qualified to express any judgment, seeing as how far beyond my capabilities yours will ever be - where musical talent and skill are concerned. Yet, having known your Dad in School, and having been taught by your Grandfather, Richard - all I can say is that their talent has certainly found a home, and furtherance in your amazing hands.

Congratulations!

[PianistCor]

Why only 89. He should at least get 90..That is an A :-))

[tonyyezj]

Josh:

You're obviously very very talented. Congrantuations on first place! You deserved it, no doubt. I have a question: How do you play the part where it tells you to speed up, with triplets for the right hand and eighth notes on the left hand. My problem for that part is that I can't get the timing right for that particular part. Any tips? Thanks!

[jwabacus]

Hey thanks! How did I get the timing right? Well - I have the most fabulous teacher and she just made it happen. Actually I can only remember playing hands separately (and slowly) and then, voilà, it just happened. I'll look at my score again and see what markings she put on it. I'm working on some VERY neat grade 10 RCM pieces now - love them - especially Mozart Sonata K332. Later!

[tonyyezj]

Thanks for the tip. And good luck with the Mozart!

[BTMaverick]

Ok I found it,

so if anyone else is interested the piece is called:

Nocturne #20 in C Sharp Minor from Chopin

[ra4419]

That information is in the 'info' section to the right of the video (choose 'more').

I found this performance quite wonderful and compelling.

[BTMaverick]

Hello,

can anyone tell me the name of this piece, please.

Thank you

[PianoIsTuned]

Iridescent.  This was incredibly done and thanks for that!

[pianowatt]

Very, VERY impressive. This from someone who is not easily impressed. Keep up the great work.

[RumbleTheFirst001]

This kid is very impresive

hes got some talent

[XxkarynxjohnstonxX]

that was really good

well done !

u have a really good memory , i could never momorise a song that long , how long have u been practising that piece 4 ?

ive got vids of me playing piano to lol

XD

[mooazz]

gr8 realy gr8

[xnevamindx123]

I cnt comment on ur personaliti cuz i aint met u but wat i can saii is dat ur a realii good pianist nd i hope 2 c on somtinm lyk britains got talent finals! mi advice is tri not 2 show off becuz pepl dont lyk showoffs!!! lol xx

[jwabacus]

I hope you're not basing your 'showoff' comment on the comment made by user 'Jaanison' (below). I've never met him/her and I can only think this comment is a vile joke or otherwise a complete misrepresentation of me. Too bad I have to worry about such things. Later!

[Jaanison]

i hate josh he's in my class and he so mean and i'm not jealous i'm just saying that if you dont play any of the stuff he plays your not his friend

[jwabacus]

Hi! Perhaps you've confused me with someone else, as you certainly aren't in my class (I'm only in grade 7 and you state your age to be 19). I like many types of music - not only classical. And to state that "... stuff he plays your [sic] not his friend" couldn't be further from the truth. Have a good life, though.

[Hockeyman63]

First of all, what the heck? Second, if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say it at all! Maybe I should come on one of your videos and say such nonsense! ?"#$@&*^

[ra4419]

Truly excellent playing showing maturity far beyond your years. I'm impressed.

[pianoman1974]

well, the kid is talented but some passages were played way too fast and therefore diminished the emotion that the piece carries. pity.

[pianoman1974]

well, the kid is talented but some passages were played way too fast and therefore diminished the emotion that the piece carries. pity.

[al4319]

To: dioxviad (David) - who gave this video 2-stars on April 7/08. Please veer away from classical music instead of leaving your ridiculous and disparaging ratings.

Looking at your pathetic four videos, I see why you have such low self-esteem - perhaps you deserve it.

[lovelygirl107]

wow josh keep playing and use that talent for something

[Macwannabe]

I like turtles.

[Macwannabe]

I loved it! I dedicated it to my turtle. I like turtles.

[Iron4200]

dats a sick song :P

[masterjoram23]

I know you don't appreciate this kind of music because people like u don't listen to intelligent music.

[pianofiend1]

Excuse me, but he (Iron4200) meant sick in a good way. "SICK" in slang terms is equivalent to "really nice, or cool", so don't criticize him when you do not understand what he is trying to say, because you end up looking just as ignorant as him.

[JaneAustin57]

Thanks for this explanation. I saw Iron4200's comment and honestly didn't know what it meant. That being the case, I didn't rate the comment either + or - . But then I don't usually rate comments anyways. I really liked this video though. I used to play this piece as well.

I guess older people don`t understand this kind of English usage - and regretfully, I`m one of them. I`m simply not an expert in slang.

Anyways, thanks for the explanation!

[pianofiend1]

lol, No problem. I'm a teen, so I guess that makes a huge difference. When I'm with friends, we speak slang with no effort. But when writing on the internet (Youtube), I TRY to speak proper English so older people (cough**cough**, like you, cough**) would be able to comprehend and not take comments on videos in the wrong way, such as how Iron4200's comment was accepted.

And yes, I really like this video also.

[pianofiend1]

Excuse me, but he (Iron4200) meant sick in a good way. "SICK" in slang terms is equivalent to "really nice, or cool", so don't criticize him when you do not understand what he is trying to say, because you end up looking just as ignorant as him.

[masterjoram23]

Nice playing Josh...

[MikeFaw22]

This is my favorite video of yours too, Josh. I like them all, but this one spoke to me on an emotional level. What an incredible piece of music that was played just so passionately. Kudos!

[ryltz]

awesome playn' josh

[piano6861]

This is my favorite video of yours. Beautiful piece and impassioned performance!

[SuzieMac4]

Huh? What's going on? jwabacus? Wasn't this RWAbacus recently? - oops, I see that that account has been suspended. What happened? Nice to see you back, Josh! Also, I notice that the superimposed lettering is not the same. It looks better, actually.